The Woods Run Red
by FawnTheFox
Summary: Red Riding Hood AU: Everyone knows not to go into the forest, especially after the sun sets. That's when the wolves come out to play. What everyone does not know is that the woods are also home to three brothers, the youngest whom wears a red hood.
1. Chapter 1

**Official Summary: Everyone knows not to go into the forest, especially after the sun sets. That's when the wolves and monsters come out to prowl. So when Marco finds himself Thatch, Zoro, Nami, and Ussop lost in the forest watching the sun set he realizes they're all in serious trouble. Thankfully they stumble across a cabin belonging to three brothers; the ever polite Sabo, the unfriendly Ace and Luffy the youngest brother who always wears a red hood. Together the three of them hunt the creature while keeping a massive secret. Marco starts to wonder if maybe he was safer with the wolves. Hunter, Vampire, Werewolfs. + Extremely Possessive Ace. Based loossley on Red Riding Hood story**

 **(Please bear with the start I promise Luffy/Ace/Sabo come in soon)**

Marco was not having a good day! It had started when he woke up late and generally went downhill from there. Now as he sat on the crowded bus besides his best friend Thatch he doubted it was about to get better.

For one thing they were headed straight into the Forrest, as in full of wolves Forrest. The same place that was responsible for over fifty disappearances from the city last year alone. The school had taken every possible precaution of course. Mainly it was midmorning, all the wolves are sleeping, along with whatever else lived there. They would be long gone before the sun even considered setting. There were also six heavily armed guards ready to put holes through anything that so much as moved.

It was a tradition of sorts at their school. No one could graduate without first venturing to the Forrest. Typically this was completed in their first year but both Marco and Thatch had unwittingly missed that day. Thus now in their final year they were crammed onto a bus packed with noisy freshmen headed straight for the most dangerous place in the entire city.

There were nervous shrikes as the Forrest came into view. Marco and Thatch exchanged glances, it looked like a normal Forrest to them, certainly not a place full of murderous creatures.

"I heard the wolves are having a turf war with vampires." Thatch told him.

Marco just rolled his eyes. "That's ridiculous. There are no such things as vampires and they certainly wouldn't be having a territory dispute with a bunch of overgrown wolves, this isn't West Side Story.

"If you say so." Thatch added wistfully as they fell into silence.

Despite the general atmosphere of fear in the bus Marco wasn't worried. The school did this every year and no one had ever died. It was so well controlled they might as well go to a sandbox instead and pretend to dig for fossils.

"I need all of you to remain with your groups at all times, each group will be assigned a guard who will guide you throughout the Forrest. If, heavens forbid, you ever lose sight of your guard you each have whistled that can be heard for up to two miles. I will have no funny business, is that clear?" Their teacher demanded. "Most of all you all must stay on the path! Don't stray."

The terrified freshmen nodded, their eyes wide with fear. Marco snorted, why did everyone even have a whistle if it was practically impossible to wonder off in the first place?

The bus lurched to a stop at the end of the dirt road as they all stumbled out. They weren't very deep into the Forrest at all.

He crossed his arms standing beside Thatch as their group slowly came over to join them. First was Ussop, and he had to physically stop himself from groaning. He was known as the boy who cried wolf at their school. He would get everyone up in arms alerting the town a wolf had wondered into the town limits only to laugh himself silly a few minutes later. But right now he didn't look much in the joking mood, he looked terrified. Apparently he didn't think real wolves were as funny as fake ones.

The next one to join was the red headed Nami, the prettiest girl in the freshmen year. The only problem was she knew it. The outfit she was dressed in didn't look near appropriate to wear to school, let alone the middle of the woods. Marco swore to himself right then and there that he wouldn't be the one to carry her if her high heels broke.

Last, and a huge relief to him was Zoro. Zoro was actually a junior and Marcos friend. Like the two seniors he had slept through the fieldtrip date and was now forced to make it up.

Their guard was a serious looking man from the Marines no doubt. He didn't say anything in lieu of putting bullets in his gun. He simply shrugged when he caught them staring.

"We're to meet back here in no later than three hours." Their teacher yelled at the departing groups.

"I feel like I'm back in Kindergarten." Marco said to Thatch dryly.

Unfortunately the guard overheard and flashed him a dark scowl. "Don't underestimate the Forrest, no matter how harmless in seems in the daylight. I promise you come nightfall it will turn into your worst nightmare."

He turned to address the group, "I've got three rules you need to follow; first, stay in direst sight of me at all times, I will not have anyone wonder off on my watch. Second, don't assume anything in the Forrest, no matter how innocent it seems if you see anything strange I expect you to tell me. Lastly, whatever you do, don't stray off the path. This place is impossible to navigate, if you get lost its doubtful even the search teams won't be able to find you."

None of the group looked that fazed except Ussop who looked like he was going to be sick.

"Can I go sit in the bus?"

"No." The guard told him, "Now let's get moving."

So they began to trudge through the woods following the overgrown hiking path. Despite everything Marco found himself enjoying it. He had never been to a real Forrest before and it was much different then he thought it would be. Ignoring the uptight armed guard it was quite relaxing. Birds and animals chirped happily from above and the sun streamed in lazily from between the trees. They even saw a tiny rabbit hop across their path. He was beginning to understand why the school made it mandatory for them to take this field trip.

Around noon they settled down by the stream to eat lunch, still the guard's attitude was starting to tug at him. What could their possibly be to worry about in broad daylight.

"Have you ever seen a wolf before mister?" Nami asked, her brown eyes full of fake innocence.

He glanced sharply at her before returning his eyes to the trees. "Yes, but I wouldn't recommend it too anyone else. It's the kind of thing you don't forget easily." He stood up, "We best be heading back."

"Is there something going on?" Thatch asked before he could stop himself, clearly he also had picked up on the guard's moods.

The guard stared at him as if deciding if he should tell them or not. "This stays between us," He caved reluctantly. "But the Marines advised the school to cancel this years trip. Against our better judgement they refused. They insisted it was a tradition and if they canceled it for the first time in fifteen years it would send the town into a frenzy."

"Why did the Marines want to cancel it?"

"The scouts have reported strange patterns in the wolves lately, there have been some sightings even in the day time. Although there haven't been any attack in weeks we are still concerned. It's almost as if their planning something."

"That's ridiculous, their animals, they aren't capable of creating plans…right?" Nami asked.

The man frowned as he swung his gun over his shoulder, "I don't know ma'am but if there's one thing I have learned it's don't underestimate this place. If I was to speak freely I would tell you that there are things here hidden in the darkest parts, things that we can't explain."

For the first time this entire day Marco felt a stab of fear. This place had the guard scared witless. Suddenly he wanted to be out of here as soon as possible.

"I have to go to the bathroom." Ussop wheezed clearly scared out of his wits by the confession.

The guard growled, as if the request was totally out of line. "Hold it."

"I don't think that an option sir."

"Fine," he growled, "But make it quick. You four stay put."

They watched him disappear with Ussop into the tree line, he was still close enough to shoot any approaching predators, which was a small comfort."

Marco lifted the whistle from his pocket inspecting it. He was starting to think that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea.

"My My, that man certainly is paranoid isn't he." A new voice broke out.

The four of them whipped around to face the stranger. He was tall and narrow with black hair, tan skin and grey eyes with dark circles under, it looked like he hadn't slept in quite some time. He was dressed in mostly dark colors looking more rebellious than anything else.

"Who are you?" Zoro demanded his eyes narrowing.

"No one." He assured them with a humorless laugh. "Now tell me, what are four children doing this deep in the Forrest, are you lost?" He looked delighted by the idea.

Marco looked desperately behind him for their guard, he really should be back by now. He hadn't gone far at all. This man was starting to scare him.

Without warning a gunshot rang out behind them, quickly accompanied by a yell. The group quickly spun around to where Ussop had just disappeared. They stared transfixed at the point, expected a wolf to tumble out of the bushes. But nothing happened.

Turning back around with a start they realized the man was gone, nowhere to be seen.

"What the hell was that?" Nami panicked running her fingers through her hair. "What just happened?"

'If I was to speak freely I would tell you that there are things here hidden in the darkest parts, things that we can't explain.' The man's words ran through Marcos head as he quickly got up. "We need to go, now."

"What about the others?"

"Their fine, they have a gun, unlike us."

"That did not sound fine to me." Nami said her voice rising to hysteria.

Marco sighed as he considered, in all honesty he had misjudged her. She was not the annoying bratty girl he pegged her to be. Instead she was willing to risk her life to save the others, which was far more then Marco had done.

"Fine," He said through clenched teeth. "But we need to keep it quick." They nodded in agreement as they set off running in the direction the two had disappeared. Making sure to keep the path in sight they continued forwards, no one dared to yell Ussop's name.

"We can't risk going any further." Marco said looking behind him. "We have to go back, they can send a search party ou…"

The bushes rustled stopping them from finishing their thought. They immediately drew together, Thatch clutching his shoulder so hard it felt like it was going to pop off.

Instead of the horrifying monster they were expecting Ussop flew out of the bushes, snot running down his noise. "You guys, we s-s-saw one, through the bushes." No one bothered to ask what 'one' he was referring to.

"Where's the guard?" Marco demanded his eyes narrowing. This was not looking good.

"I d-don't know. He st-st-stayed behind to fight it off. I think it got him."

"Run." Marco said not waiting for a further explanation, "Back to the trail NOW!"

Needing no further encouragement they took off back towards the trail which was just out of sight. But after a few minutes of running Marco heart began to fall. They should have found it by now, instead the terrain was looking more and more unfamiliar. The trees were growing closer together and the canopy above was getting thicker. Even the sounds of the birds seemed to be quieter.

"We're lost." He said finally coming to a stop. "WE'RE LOST." He repeated louder.

"That's impossible." Nami said, "The trail was right there."

"He warned us about this," Zoro said. "He told us it was easy to get lost in the Forrest, that's why he told us to stay on the path while he left, so we could guide him back."

"This can't be happening." Ussop said fearfully staring around at the trees. Without warning he took out his whistle blowing on it loudly.

"STOP IT!"

"Why not? This way they'll know where to find us."

"Not if the wolves find us first." Marco snapped, "And my bet is their much faster."

Before he could respond a howl broke out from somewhere in the Forrest. It was impossible to pick out the exact location but it seemed much too close for comfort.

"Run."

No one needed to be told twice as they blindly dashed through the increasingly dense thicket. They were so preoccupied with moving forwards they hardly noticed when the ground starting sloping sharply upwards. But Ussop did. He was by far the slowest of all of them and thus hung back a few meters, as his short legs refused to carry him any faster. Therefor he was the only one to shout out a warning at the approaching cliff in front of them. Unfortunately it came too late. They hurled over it as lightning speeds.

The last thing Marco saw was Ussop's horrified face, from the cliff edge as he watched them fall over it. And then he knew nothing else.

"Marco you have to get up."

"Marco, please be alright."

"YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP NOW?"

Marcos eyes flew open as he was harshly slapped. Thatches worried face materialized above him, and Marco instantly regretting waking up. Above his friends head he could see the sky that was reluctantly beginning to darken. How long had they been unconscious?

"We're going to die." He hissed as he desperately searched for the sun, but he couldn't find it above the tree tops."

"Don't talk like that." Zoro snapped as he helped Nami up from the ground. "Now let's start walking. I doubt were getting out the same way we came in." He gestured to the cliff face.

Remarkably they were mostly unhurt besides a few sprained fingers and many bruises. Luckily enough, the trees had caught their fall ensuring a soft landing. Despite how hopeless the situation was Marco couldn't find a good enough reason to sit here and wait to die horribly. So he silently agreed as they continued walking again.

The sky continued to darken, taking with it their last hopes of survival. Marco was just about to suggest they find someplace to hide for nighttime when they saw a small Cabin around a bend. It was small and run down but undeniably a human made establishment. Unlike their alien surroundings.

They approached it mindfully, on one hand ecstatic but also extremely cautious. When did anyone ever have time to build a cabin this deep in the Forrest? Marco raised his hand to try the doorknob but stopped when he recognized the brown substance coating it. His blood pounding in his ears as he instead knocked on the unstained part.

"What are you do….?" Zoro trailed off as the door opened.

Their stood a young black haired boy with a wide smile. His eyes were brown and innocent that went well with his carefree face. He was clothed in an oversized red sweatshirt and worn shorts.

"Hello!" He greeted them cheerfully.

Marco's mouth fell open as he stared at him. What the hell was a boy like this doing here without a care in the world in this creepy blood stained cabin in the middle of the Forrest?

"What are you doing here?" Thatch spoke his thoughts perfectly.

The boy tilted his head confused, "I live here."

"You're kidding right?"

Before he could answer a dark shape moved behind him, effectively slamming the door in their faces.

Their group froze unsure how to proceed. What had just happened?

"Ace stop it! Let go of me." The boy's voice floated out from the thin walls. He sounded more annoyed than in mortal danger.

A few minutes later the door flew open again, as the boy reappeared panting slightly. This time there was another figure there as well. He looked older, taller and more muscular. His hair was dark like Luffy's but his eyes were a light grey instead of brown. He was also shirtless, which was a little odd considering how nippy it was in the Forrest.

His grey eyes narrowed at them as he rested his chin on the younger boys black hair.

Marco watched with shock, nearly forgetting to speak. What was going on here? What were these two boys doing living here? Didn't they know the danger they were in?

"Who are you?"

"Luffy!" The boy said happily as behind him the teenager let out a low growl showing he was not pleased. He wrapped his arms around the younger ones waist possessively.

Luffy ignored him for the most part like this was completely normal. He seemed much more interested in them, probably with good reason as well.

"What are you doing here?" The older one spoke, his voice deep and a little intimidating despite the fact that he couldn't be any older then Marco.

"Were got separated from our class, something started chasing us and… our friends still in the woods. We need to find him."

"Your class is long gone." He replied with an amused snort as if he thought this was somehow funny.

With a sinking heart Marco realized he was right. They would have left long ago, despite the missing people. No doubt there was a search team combing the Forrest for them, even they would soon be leaving.

"Where's your friend?" Luffy asked earnestly.

"I don't know, somewhere on the cliff top, the last we saw of him." Even as Marco spoke he knew the situation was hopeless, Ussop was probably dead.

"Okay, let's go find him." Luffy said shrugging out of Ace's grip.

"Are you serious?"

"You want to find him right?" Luffy asked looking confused, "How will we do that without looking?" He reached over to a peg by the door and slung a cross-bow over his shoulder, grabbing a slightly bloodied bat with the other hand.

Was he for real? Their guard had a machine gun, what did this kid think a cross-bow and bat would accomplish?

The older teen crossed his arms and let out a small undistinguishable growl.

"It's fine?" He retorted back to the older. "I'll be back, just tell Sabo where I went."

Seemingly unsatisfied with that he leaned forwards and licked Luffy's cheek.

Luffy simply laughed in response and wiped the wet spot with his sleeve.

"Come on we have to hurry." He told them as he cut through their ragtag group leading the way.

They paused for a moment, the current situation still catching up to them. Nothing since they discovered the cabin seemed to make sense. But that probably wasn't important right now, if this boy claimed he could find Ussop then frankly he was their best bet. At the very least he seemed to live here, that must mean something right?

Marco glanced back as the boy leaned against the doorframe, once again crossing his arms. "It will be dark soon Lu."

"I know." He yelled back giving him a small wave as they headed out.

Nami grabbed Zoro's arm, who seemed to be taking their current situation the best, while Thatch mirrored it, painfully cutting off Marco's circulation.

"Err… Say Luffy?" Thatch began hesitantly.

"Yea?"

"What happens if we come across a wolf?"

"I'll fight it." He explained like it was truly that easy.

"Will you win?" Nami asked before she could stop herself.

"Yep!" He said happily.

And Marco found himself grateful he had been the one to agree instead of the older one. He probably would of gotten them hopelessly lost in the woods and ran away laughing. Then again Marco would have felt a little bit better behind a muscular guy like that then then a kid with a baseball bat.

"Luffy, why do you live in the middle of the Forrest? Why don't you live in the town?" Marco asked before he could stop himself.

A frown flickered over his lips but other than that he gave no sign that he had heard. Continuing onwards, "I think your friend must be somewhere over here." He said guiding them back to the cliff face.

"Ussop!" They cried as loud as they dared.

"Is this what you're looking for little Luffy?" A familiar frightening voice asked.

There behind them stood the same man from the river, who seemed to come out of nowhere and leave the same way. He stood above them, perfectly balanced on a low hanging tree branch. Ussop's collar was clamped in his left hand while his free hand played casually with a glinting knife.

For his part Ussop looked truly terrified, he wasn't even moving. He instead hung suspended by his collar. His eyes wide with fear and never leaving the knife.

"Give him back Law!" Luffy said angrily unslinging the crossbow from his back.

"What will you give me in return?" The older man asked flirtatiously. "It gets oh so lonely at night you know."

Instead of a response Luffy simply raised his free arm and flicked the man off, clearly not amused.

"You better decide quickly Little Luffy, It will be dark soon and as I'm sure you know the woods at night time is no place for children."

A low growl broke the standoff as they turned their attention to a sleek black wolf entering the clearing. Marco had never seen a Wolf in real life before and honestly he was beginning to understand why the Guard didn't want to talk about it. It was clearly at least twice the size of him and far more intimidating. As it snarled he caught sight of its enormous fangs glinting with saliva, ready to sink into flesh. Its ears were flat on its head while its eyes were narrowed into thin slits.

He tensed, feeling his group do the same besides them as they readied themselves to run for their lives before that thing tore them to shreds. But before he could even go a step Luffy held out the bat in front of them signaling them to stay where they were.

"It's okay." He said without looking back at them, his dark eyes were fixed on the two figures in front of them.

Law looked less convinced as his eyes narrowed, "Ah I was wondering when you would show up, you just can't resist can you?"

He threw Ussop down to the floor with a thud that made Marco wince. Still he hardly seemed to notice as he scrambled to his feet, ever aware of the giant wolf, and dashed over to them grabbing Nami's outstretched hand as if it was a lifeline.

"Are you happy now?" He asked sarcastically. "Can't a man flirt in peace?"

The wolf growled clearly stating his response as he took a step closer. But the man was already gone, deeper into the Forrest. His laughs echoing off the tree tops. The creature gave an angry roar as it took off after the man, its speed nearly rivaling his.

"Did that…thing just defend us?" Zoo breathed ignoring Ussops sobs of fear.

"The wolves don't really like Law." Luffy said as he glanced around them, "Nobody really likes Law."

"Who is he?" Nami demanded dragging Ussop off of her legs.

"He's bad." Luffy said without hesitation as he glanced around the clearing heading back to where they had come. "You should stay away from him." He turned his attention back at Ussop staring at him in an odd sort of way. Strangely enough Luffy looked almost confused as he looked at the newcomer. Clearly Ussop did not appreciate the attention.

"W-whose he?" Ussop asked his voice trembling once again. Despite how annoying he was Marco couldn't help but pity him, he had the worse luck of all of them.

"Apparently he's Luffy, he lives here." Thatch sad dryly, like he himself didn't quite believe it. "A better question is what happened?"

"After you guys fell off a cliff I climbed a tree hoping to hide, I thought I was in the clear but then that creepy guy showed up and starting threatening me with a knife, I think he wanted to eat me."

Marco rolled his eyes at the last statement as he ran into Luffy. The boy had stopped without him noticing. This couldn't be good.

"What's the matter?'

"Wolves." Luffy whispered back, "Two or three of them."

His blood ran cold as the words sunk in. They were doomed. Maybe if they split up one of them could survive. "Should we run?"

"No," The boy replied raising his bat, "it would be no good anyways. Just stay here." He raised his bat as he stepped away from the group.

There was a horrible moment as the foliage shifted and two wolves emerged from the woods, nearly blending into the darkened place. They were huge, much larger than the sleek black wolf who ran after Law. Their eyes glowed in the approaching darkness. They towered over the small boy, so much so Marco doubted he would even be an appetizer to them.

He opened his mouth to shout a warning when Luffy sprang into action. As the first wolf lunged at the boy he jumped up smacking its jaw with the bat with a sickening crack, leaving little doubt whether it was broken or not. Still, refusing to back down it lunged again, its jaw hanging obtusely as blood trickled out. Luffy neatly ducked aside kicking the creature in its ribs accompanied by another sickening crack as the ribs moaned in protest.

Not giving him a second to recover the second one sprang with it's claws this time. Its already bloody nails glinting dangerously. Its right paw sunk into the wooden bat harmlessly as its nails shaved off splintered, while he deflected the other one with his free hand, batting it aside as if this was a simple self-defense class. He brought up his elbow and neatly sliced it into the creature's nose drawing blood.

So distracted by the sight before them they barley noticed the third wolf creeping silently in the shadows. Thankfully Luffy sensed it a second before it pounced. He grabbed the crossbow from his back and shots its foot throwing it off balance as it gave a pained roar.

Unfortunately the wolf with the broken nose had the perfect opening for attack. Luffy drew back, but not fast enough as a fatal swipe was delegated to instead catching his calves making him cry out as he sunk to his knees.

He was incredible Marco realized with dull respect. How in the world did this boy singlehandedly take on three wolves with nothing more than a bat and outdated cross bow. He had just done what even the highly trained guard couldn't dream about.

He watched in disbelief as Luffy punched the creature right in its teeth, his hand looking strangely black in the shadows as the side two fangs shattered, falling to the floor uselessly.

Just when he was sure nothing else could surprise him again Zoro dove forwards. Before the third wolf could even rise he unsheathed a sword from his backpack and cut deeply into its uninjured leg, showing the grizzly white bone. As it dove in to get a final bite it instead received a nasty slash across its face.

Zoro was training to be a sword master. He had once briefly mentioned it to Marco but he had forgotten it. Up until now he always thought he was exaggerating, but he highly doubted it now.

With a final fearful glance at the group of teens the three wolves gave a whine as they limped away, dragging their injuries behind them like some sort of hideous defeated flag. They moved as fast as their broken bodies could as if scared they would be pursued, but Luffy simply stood their holding his bloody leg.

"Thanks." He said to Zoro breaking the silence.

Zoro simply nodded in response staring down shocked at the blood smeared on his blade. He clearly was not used to doing things like this.

"A-are you human?" Ussop asked, his stutter had unfortunately returned.

Luffy laughed at that as he rubbed his cheek, accidently smearing blood across it.

"Of course I am, what else would I be?"

 **Tadah! I really hoped you liked it** **It took me a billion hours. I'm sorry Ussop was so annoying, he will get better. Luffy also appeared way too overpowered here but I feel like it was pretty fair. By humans standers he is an insane war machine, but compared to Ace and Sabo he still has a long way to go. But he is still pretty impressive doing all of that on his own. Sabo will defiantly make an appearance at the beginning of next chapter. He lives with them, he was just gone at the moment. Also like half of this chapter was just the five of them stumbling around in the woods, sorry that was so boring. It was not intended. I'm not sure if anyone's going to read this (It's pretty out there) but if you do please comment.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm so happy people liked the last chapter! I have been obsessing over it for two days now and it is honestly giving me a bit of a break from collage applications and my summer plans. It might seem a little weird that I keep writing this in Marco POV but I think it's kind of cool to get an outside perspective on the three. For them their actions are totally normal so when someone comes in and is all WTF, what are they doing, its pretty fun. It will shift over to their POV soon!**

 **Nala1220: Thank you for giving it a shot! I promise Sabo is in this chapter. Even though it seems like romance for the most part it's platonic but the line get blurred sometimes. Garp'ss around! But he's not really connected to the brothers so much. Dragon will play a bit bigger of a part. Law is A villain, but not THE villain.**

 **Onmoraki: Thank you so much! That is the nicest thing I've heard!**

 **OctaveTea: Thank you! I read all of the Grimm Brothers stories, their so great! Sabo makes an appearance here!**

 **Mariachanne: Yay! I read that one too a couple of years ago! It was so cute!**

 **L1109: Thank you! That's neat that you live in France.**

 **Lostgog200: It's my favorite thing about writing this fic! I'm glad someone else enjoys it too! I promise I will explain how they met in later chapters, as well as Ace's and occasionally Sabo's actions towards Luffy. But for Ace I can say his possessiveness is partially due to saving Luffy's life when they were kids (More on this later)**

 **Jisca: You will find out what all three of them are in this chapter!**

 **Amaterasu-chan: Your comment made me laugh so much** **I promise I will explain it later but it's a little bit of both.**

It was dark by the time they made it back to the cabin. Despite the gash on his leg, Luffy refused any help, insisting he was fine.

They had all seen much more than they had ever thought possible, and if Marco had to guess it wasn't over. They LITERALY weren't out of the woods yet. At least they were all still breathing, with the exception of the guard, but he could find comfort in that. It was actually all thanks to this kid, Luffy. He had helped them without a second thought, he had protected them despite the injury it caused.

Ussop wouldn't quit whispering that Luffy was leading them back to the cabin just so he could eat them, a thought Marco was desperately trying to ignore. He felt like if anyone was going to try and eat them it would be Ace. At the very least the guard had been right when he told them there were things in this forest that they couldn't explain.

"We're back," Luffy said happily as he flung the cabin door open, clearly not caring about the dried blood on the handle.

Unsure about what to do, they reluctantly followed him inside the house, shutting the door carefully behind them. Marco tensed as they entered, ready to run at any second. Adrenaline coursed through his system due to the stressful events that had transpired just minutes ago. Despite the caution it didn't seem like any one was intending to attack them.

It was strangely clean despite its rundown appearance; animal furs carpeted the floor leaving spots where the original worn wood peeked through. Although the cabin was quite small it had a distinctly cozy feeling as it centered around the fireplace on the opposite wall. Unsurprisingly the furniture looked old, but it clearly wasn't handmade.

"Welcome back!" A blond haired boy said getting up from the couch. He was a few inches taller than the unfriendly one, but he had a leaner build compared to the others muscles. Thankfully enough, this one was fully clothed and wearing a pleasant smile as if they had come over for tea.

"Did you find who you were looking for?" He asked again, addressing the group this time. His tone was polite and his accent was strikingly proper.

Marco nodded, not trusting his voice. He felt Ussop cowering behind his back in a desperate attempt to hide from the two older boys. A couple of hours ago he would have punched the kid for so much as touching him, but now he couldn't care less. It was funny what a day of running for your life could do to a social group.

"What happened Luffy?" He asked as his gaze shifted to the blood dripping down his leg. A small trail trickled between his toes and began to pool on the floor. Marco was starting to see why there was blood on the door, these people acted like it was water.

"I got scratched," He said sticking out his cheeks in a pout.

To their surprise the elder black haired boy let out a series of muffled sounds which Marco realized was laughter.

"Is everybody else okay?" He asked the group curiously.

Nobody said anything so he assumed from their silence that they were. "Come here so I can fix it." He said as he reached to the medical kit, which was open and on the table, for the gauze.

Luffy made his way over to the couch plopping between the two older boys.

"Sit down your making me nervous." He said holding Luffy's ankle to stop him from moving away in pain. "We don't bite." He added dryly as nobody stirred.

The grey eyed boy growled like he disagreed. As he turned his gaze to the floor, pointedly ignoring them, Marco couldn't help but wonder what they had done for him to dislike them so soon?

"What are your names?" Nami finally asked, bravely breaking the silence.

"I'm Sabo," The blond replied, closing the medical kit, "You met Luffy, and that one's Ace. He's not really great with new people.

That was the understatement of the century. He opened his mouth to thank Luffy but instead another question tumbled out.

"Why do you live in the forest instead of the town?"

For a horrible second he was worried he offended them in some way, but Sabo just smiled coyly glancing out the window. "Why indeed?" He mused. "A better question is how you five found yourselves in this mess?"

Marco frowned slightly as his question was dodged. But he was relived they hadn't taken offense. If they lived in the middle of the woods just to avoid the town then there was probably a good reason why.

So they told them the story of how a normal day had turned into a disaster. All of it had started going downhill when that man appeared.

"That's just Law," Luffy told them, "like I said he's a jerk."

"That's an understatement." Ace muttered rubbing his newly bandaged shoulder.

"The guards dead right? The werewolves killed him?"

"It looks that way." Sabo confirmed. He glanced over at Ace and the two shared a quick look, their faces unreadable. "The village is going to be up in arms about this."

"I thought Wolves only came out at night, what were they doing in broad daylight?" Marco asked tensely.

"I'm sure it's nothing important." Sabo lied easily as he stood up. "Anyways I think it's time for dinner. It's too dangerous for you guys to go back tonight. Luffy will take you to town when the light returns. You don't need to worry, you'll be safe, the wolves don't come here"

Marco bit his lip as they once again dodged the question. No doubt there was something going on that they weren't telling them. But it was hardly like he could do anything about it. Although it was a bit odd that these three teenage boys were living all alone in the middle of the wolf infested woods. No doubt they could hold their own, but why did they bother when they could simply live in the town? Where were their parents, so far he hadn't seen any sign that some sort of adult lived here.

Those thoughts weighing heavily on his mind he followed them to the kitchen, where the delicious smell of stew lingered tantalizingly.

The kitchen was another quaint room. A cast iron oven rested in the corner where the large pot sat, bubbling happily. The wooden table was small and the chairs were mismatched. A small cracked window above the sink showed the pitch black forest, stretching onwards besides them. Marco shivered as he stared at it, expecting to see a wolf appear from the brambles at any moment, but nothing came. Living in the city he had honestly never seen such darkness before. No doubt they had no electricity here, no wonder they were using fire instead.

After the kind of day they had no one was feeling particularly hungry. But no one was willing to decline their hospitality. They pitched in helping the three children set the table, abetting for the extra people by adding extra places.

As they dished out stew into the eight bowls Marco left to go get more chairs from the living room. He smiled for the first time all day as he heard Nami playfully teasing Ussop from the kitchen. It was a sad attempt but it still made him feel a little better. Having your life literally flash before your eyes really changed your perspective on things. Despite the delicious smell he just wanted to sleep and wake up tomorrow to realize that this had all been a horrible dream.

"Are you okay?" Luffy's voice broke him out of his thoughts. He looked up surprised seeing Luffy and Ace in the corner of the living room, nearly out of sight. They had disappeared from the kitchen a few minutes ago but with all the confusion nobody had noticed. Unsure how to precede Marco stood still, rooted to the spot.

"It's just a bite." Ace told the younger boy, "It's nothing I haven't had before. I'll live."

Luffy glanced at his tightly wrapped arm in concern like he wasn't entirely convinced but remained silent anyways.

Sensing his discomfort Ace nuzzled his nose reassuringly. "Don't worry so much idiot."

Feeling vaguely guilty Marco stepped away, his task quickly forgotten as he rejoined his friend in the living room. Soon afterwards Luffy and Ace reappeared with a silver flask which they discreetly handed to Sabo. However only himself and Zoro seemed to noticed.

They all sat down at the now cramped table and began to eat the stew. Unsurprisingly for forest dwellers, they had limited table manners, Sabo excluded. For such thin fit people they sure ate a lot, although he assumed fighting wolves took up alot of energy.

It was full of vegetables from the forest and a delicious meat that Ussop reluctantly asked about. Through the least amount of words possible Ace hinted it might be human meat, making all of them nearly choke. This sent Luffy and Sabo into a fit of hysterical laughter, as they thought this was immensely funny.

"It's only Rabbit." Luffy told them through gasping breaths as he clutched his stomach in pain caused from a laugh attack. "The other one is hanging right up over there. "Sure enough the twin rabbit was hanging in the kitchen waiting to be deskinned. Somehow, dinner with these three seemed to take his mind off of the day's events.

Despite everything Ace and Sabo clearly weren't ecstatic at the surprise visitors. But the blond seemed to have his own motivation for helping them, ones that he had clearly discussed with Ace despite the boys protests. Marco honestly couldn't blame them. He was sure there was a hell of a story how they ended up here and he didn't doubt they had to be extra cautious in these parts about who they trusted. There was also something else, something he couldn't put his finger on. Perhaps it was animosity? Clearly Ace held the most disdain for them, he didn't even try to hide it. Sabo came next but he was much more measured about it, concealing it under layers of politeness. Luffy on the other hand just seemed curious about them, he was by far the friendliest and open and it was easy to strike up a conversation with him. The only limiting factor of course was Ace, who would growl at whomever talked to him for too long. It reminded Marco vaguely of kindergarten jealousy.

After the giant pot of stew ran empty they hurried to clean the table and do the dishes. The tiny cabin had grown quite dark. They had a few battery powered lanterns hanging up in the halls but it was still hard to see. Sabo and Ace seemed to have no problem as they moved about freely in the shadows. Luffy had a little more trouble in the darkened areas and he occasionally had to feel his way along some places. But for the most part he seemed used to it. The others however were a complete mess. Marco barley caught himself from tripping over Ussop who had fallen a few seconds earlier and couldn't seem to get up. Ace clearly found amusement in their struggles so they took to following Sabo and Luffy out of the kitchen.

Back in the living room there was a stairway like ladder in the corner that was previously unnoticed. It led to the loft here the boys slept. Climbing in near darkness was horrifying but once again it didn't seem to faze them.

Their bedroom mirrored the rest of the house, small but cozy enough. There were two beds shoved into the darkened corner as well as a moth eaten couch against the far wall. There were a few loose clothes strewn across the room but aside from that it was rather tidy. If Marco had to guess he thought it would be Sabo's doing, as the boy seemed to have a knack for cleaning up after the other two. Luffy and Sabo gathered spare blankets and pillows as they made up a bed on the couch for Marco and Zoro. They turned the living room into another bedroom where Nami, Ussop and Thatch would be sleeping.

"Can't the wolves just break in here?" Zoro asked skeptically.

"The wolves don't come here." Sabo told him as he threw him a pillow.

"Why?" Marco asked.

"Because it's our spot," Luffy piped up as he pulled the red hoodie over his head and threw it haphazardly in the corner. Changing it out for an oversized shirt before laying down next to Ace.

"It a territory thing," Sabo said quickly. He looked like he had no intention of going to sleep yet. Something Marco found odd but not that abnormal. So he just nodded and let the conversation drop.

Despite how tired he was he couldn't seem to fall asleep. The events of the day kept replaying in his mind. Besides him Zoro seemed to have no problem, he defiantly seemed to be taking everything in stride. His eyes wandered up to the bed where Luffy and Ace were fast asleep, like they didn't have a care in the world.

Despite everything he still didn't know anything about them. But there was nothing he could do about it. So instead he listened to Zoro's quite snores, letting it rocking him to sleep. Hopefully when he woke up he would be back at home in his bed, and none of this would have happened. With that thought he drifted off into sleep.

Sabo smirked to himself as he slipped outside the house. It was pitch black but he had no problem. The moon was large tonight, which was no good. It would defiantly make things harder for him. Still he had no choice, stuff was going on in these woods that he couldn't ignore. It was their home after all.

Making his way through the trees he continued on the darkened path. The patters of paws and footsteps got progressively louder. He neared the clearing, cautiously pausing besides a tree, observing the scene in front of him.

Stretched out in the pale moonlight of the clearing stood and ensemble of human figures and wolves alike. Some were gathered on fallen branches and boulders and others merely stood, staying close to their packs. Dozens of glowing eyes, red and yellow alike peaked out from the darkness creating a horrifying nightmarish vision. They were here, undoubtedly, to talk about the same thing. A figure emerged from the group, singling himself out from the rest. Sabo instantly recognized him as Law.

"Thank you for meeting here with me." He said, the usual smirk in his voice. "I know we all want to discuss the same thing, the humans are starting to get angry. They have set a mandatory curfew for their village. We haven't fed off an actual human in nearly two month. I can't speak for everyone but personally I am growing quite hungry. I don't think we should have to suffer like this."

A second figure stepped forwards, this one with hair that seemed to reach upward like flames. He was Kid the leader of one of the largest wolf packs in the forest. He crossed his arms angrily. Almost as if challenging him.

"It's easy for you to say, you're kind isn't hunted by them. The existence of vampires is still unknown. If we staged an uprising like you oh so subtly hinting who do you think is going to suffer the consequences."

There were howls of agreement from the clearing a well as screams of protest.

"Who gave you the right to play leader?" Someone shouted angrily at him.

Law held up his hands innocently, the ever present smirk on his face. "Of course I'm not trying to step in anyone's way here. But due to the subsequent lack of an heir the noble leaders of my race choose me to represent their will tonight." His grey eyes flickered over to Sabo. "Unless of course someone wants to step in."

Sabo remained silent, the message was clear but he choose not to say anything.

"Want to tell the crowed why you saved the humans who wondered into the forest today? Don't tell me that human you're living with is making you soft?"

"Leave Luffy out of this," Sabo demanded sharply, "He has as much right to live here as you or me." No matter how much time had passed Law refused to let the subject drop, despite the fact that most had accepted it long ago. It was only him and ancient ones that seemed reluctant to let the subject drop, unable to differ from the old ways.

"Besides do you know what would happen if those children were to go missing? The humans would be up in arms. They would come charging in here with their guns and burn the whole place to the ground. Is that really what you want?" Sabo asked raising his eyebrow.

There was a small growl from the crowed as they thought about it, the image searing into their brains. There was only so far they could push the humans before they snapped.

"If we combine our forces we can over power them." Law said through gritted teeth.

"And what? Slaughter all of them, you know as well as I do that it's only going to bring more of them here, like it or not they out number us."

"So you think we should just stand down then? Wallow in our own hunger until we are weak enough so that they can just pick us off? Our species needs to feed upon humans, if we don't we will die. Not even you can deny that."

"He's right." Kid said after a moment. ""We mustn't cower from the humans, we are the superior race and it's time to prove it."

"Don't get overconfident," Law warned him dangerously. "Don't forget we are not of the same species. The superior one has yet to be determined."

Angry chatter broke out in the clearing as the wolves began to growl at the vampires. A few fights broke out as tensions boiled over. They were all hungry and fed up, not to mention worried about the increasing resistance from the village people. The vampires especially were getting desperate. Their existence was not known to the humans meaning that every kill they made was blamed on the wolves. But unlike the wolves they could not survive without the blood of humans. They craved what they did not have. While werewolves enjoyed human's meat and refused to back down from an easy meal, they craved it in lieu of necessity.

Sabo left the scene, it was clear there was going to be no further progress made tonight. There was too deep a rift between the species for them to simply ignore it. But apparently they seemed to think the humans as a big enough threat to team up for the first time in a hundred years.

"That was fun wasn't it?"

Sabo frowned as he instantly recognized the voice as Laws.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing in particular." The man promised, his fangs flashing dangerously in the pale moonlight. "I was just thinking that you are awfully noble."

"What are you getting at?" Sabo growled, not in the mood for mind games and power trips, Laws specialties.

"Well, all of us are pretty hungry since the restrictions put on humans started, so I just thought that was so brave of you to ignore your hunger for the sake of those pitiful weaklings. Unless of course, you weren't as hungry as the rest of us. Which would make sense of course, considering you have your own personal human."

Sabo frowned, not liking where this was going, "I don't know what you're trying to imply but stay away from my brothers."

"Or what?"

"I'll kill you," He replied immediately.

"Oh is that so?" The man said tauntingly, tapping his chin with his thin fingers thoughtfully.

"Is this just a game to you?" Sabo asked, unable to stop himself. Law had defiantly gotten under his skin tonight."

"Everything a game to me." He replied with a wry smile as he began to walk away. "You can't always be perfect, one day you will slip up."

Sabo stood still, staring at the point he disappeared before shaking his head softly. He had more to worry about now then Laws mind games. The two worlds were about to go to war with each other, while he wasn't particularly fond of either races this isn't what he wanted. Despite what Law thought, he knew he could protect Ace and Luffy, he wouldn't let anything happen to his pack.

When he got home that night he immediately went to the kitchen, careful so not to wake the sleeping children. Despite his feelings towards the human race (Luffy un-included of course) these children weren't responsible for their parent's actions. It would be disastrous if the humans tried to burn down the Forrest. He also didn't doubt that either the wolves or the vampires would try to double-cross each other in the process. Neither side would ever truly trust the other.

He sat at the table lost in thought until a small noise interrupted him. Luffy yawned widely as he walked up beside hin and sat down in the empty seat."

"What are you doing up?"

"Sunrise is in an hour. He said frowning slightly and gave Sabo a worried look.

Sabo looked out the window in surprise, "Had it really gotten that late?" The human children would be going home soon. They would be safe with Luffy, he wouldn't let anything happen to them. Despite being human he had grown up in these woods, he knew how to take care of himself.

"I think your leaking," Sabo said as he stared absentmindedly at the red strain growing on the once white bandage. Luffy must have moved around in his sleep as the bandage had come undone, falling loosely around his leg.

"It's still bleeding." Luffy said with a pout as blood trickled lazily down his calf.

Sabo laughed at that, "It's because you keep picking at it." He told him. "Come here."

Luffy scooted closer as Sabo unwrapped the bandages, his knees was indeed bleeding. A slow trail. Sabo watched, mesmerized by it as he leaned forwards. He lapped it up with his tongue, starting at the knee and following the trail down to his ankle. Luffy just laughed and tried to keep still, it really tickled.

"Did you go to that meeting thing?"

"Umhmm," Sabo mused more to himself then his brother.

"What did you find out?"

"Nothing good" Sabo said as he began to rewrap his leg. "It looks like the wolves and vampires are going to go to war with the humans."

Luffy said nothing, unusually silent as he stared down at the table.

Sabo watched him curiously. Despite everything that had happened to him Luffy harbored no animosity for the creatures in the woods nor the humans. Sabo and Ace had never asked him if he missed being around his own kind or not. He wondered what it must feel like to have the knowledge that your race is going to be killed and yet be unable to do anything about it.

"You should probably get going Lu, it's safer if you head out a little before sunrise," Sabo told him as he stood up.

"Okay," He laughed, back to his usual self.

As Luffy set about waking the human children Sabo tiredly climbed the ladder to their room, ready to go to bed.

.

The sun was barley peaking over the tops of the trees as the six of them started out the cabin door. Despite the rough night the weather looked promising. It was sunny and for the most part warm, despite winter being just around the corner.

They were all glad to be going home, but it was still too early in the morning to start a half day hike. Strangely enough Luffy seemed to have no problem with it. He seemed used to waking u early.

"Are they not coming?" Nami asked, referring to Ace and Sabo.

"They don't really like the town, besides their not exactly mourning people."

"Have you ever been to town Luffy?" Zoro asked curiously. Marco had been wondering the same thing.

"Yep!" Luffy relied brightly.

"Do you go often?"

"Usually it's around four or five times a year," He answered further puzzling them all. Why one earth did he live in the middle of the Woods.

"Have you ever thought about moving to town?"

"Nope!" He answered simply jumping over a fallen tree. Despite what they asked all he said was Sabo and Ace didn't like it there.

The group traveled on in silence after that, stopping around noon to eat lunch. Luckily enough they didn't run into anything else, although Ussop swore up and down that the bushes kept rustling. Zoro chatted happily with Luffy, the two talking like old friends. When he had woken up that morning Zoro was already awake, talking animatedly with Luffy about sword fighting or whatever. Strangely enough the two seemed to get on well, unusually well. This was odd considering Zoro wasn't really the type to have friends. He scared most people at their school.

When they finally burst through the trees to a grassy hill Marco let out a huge sigh of relief. The town stretched out below them, the roofs and streets clearly visible.

"Thank god," he breathed. He had never been so relieved to see the schools roof before.

They all began down the hill, stopping when they realized Luffy hadn't moved.

"Aren't you coming?"

"That's okay," He laughed, but it sounded more hollow than usual. "I need to get back anyways.

"So we'll see you later then?" Nami asked unsurely. Nobody bothered to clarify when 'later' was.

"Yea, see you later!"

"Luffy!" Zoro called just as the boy was about to turn away. "Thank you."

Luffy's face broke into his usual happy smiles as he waved at them, "Your welcome."

They made their way down the hill, all of them eager to be back. Despite the beauty of it the woods were a little lonely. Before they had even made it to the center of the town they were sighted, there were cries as the dead apparently returned from the Forrest, unharmed. They were home.

Luffy watched from the hillside at the figures before turning away, back in to the Forrest. He had gone only a few yards before a large black wolf emerged from the shrubs. Its grey eyes blinked at him questioningly. He smiled as he crossed the clearing to the creature. He wrapped his arms around its chest, his cheek rubbing the soft fur. The creature nuzzled his nose affectionately.

"Thanks Ace," Luffy laughed wiping his nose dry again.

"Let's go home."

 **Everlight18: Haha yea it's a red hoodie. I think the school believes it's important for the children to be in nature at least once in their lives and they clearly didn't think they would actually get attacked since it had never happened before. Once they graduate they ae likely never going to go into the woods again. Sorry about the misspellings if you could tell me where they are I would gladly go correct them. Yes Ace is a werewolf as this chapter showed. And Luffy and Sabo are his pack.**

 **Guest: Yay! Thank you.**

 **Yay! I'm happy I got this done, it took a really long time because it's over 5,000 words and most of my chapters are 1,000-3,000. All the follows made me really happy. I thought I would be lucky if I got five people to read this story but right now it's nearly thirty! Next chapter will be more Luffy/Ace/Sabo focused but I think the teenagers will come into it a little.**

 **I don't know if the story will cover this or not but wolf packs typically range from 4-9 members. But in rare occasions they can go from 15-30, but that's usually the point they start breaking up into smaller packs. There can also be a pack with only two in it. So Sabo, Ace and Luffy pack of three isn't that odd, having a wolf, a vampire and the ONLY human in the entire forest in it is what makes it odd.**


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter is going to be a little bit shorter than the others as not as much is going to happen in it. But rest assured that Luffy will reunite with Marco and Co next chapter and his bromance will continue to develop with Zoro. Also things will start to heat up after this chapter as the three sides grow increasingly desperate and angry. (Also did you know there such things as real vampires? There are people who crave blood in the world and who go into depression when they don't eat it.)**

 **Nala120: Yes! Ace is a werewolf, Sabo is a vampire, and Luffy is a human. I know I have mixed feelings about Garp as well. Dragon is going to come in this chapter, but only for a bit, and he's defiantly Luffy's dad but he's kind of a jerk. I know evil Law makes me cry, but I didn't know who else who was both evil and super sexy. (hahaha flaming chicken) Thank you so much!**

 **SilverMoonMage: Oh okay, whoops sorry about that.**

 **Iany-Chan: Thank you so much! I promise it shall be revealed soon enough, but there is a good reason why their all living together.**

 **Poemado: Nope, Marco and friends are important characters in the story. Thank you! I love Ace in general but protective Ace is the best!**

 **SEllen3: Yay thank you so much!**

 **Phonenix: I will I promise, I love odd AU's too!**

Marco frowned to himself as he continued to type away on his computer. It had been about two weeks since they had returned to the village. Things finally seemed to be settling down again even though the town was still in an uproar. Per Sabo's request they made sure not to mention anything about the three boys to the villagers. It was the least they could do after they had saved them.

Still the unanswered questions were weighing heavily on Marco's mind. Who was Law? Why did the boys live in the middle of the forrest? Why did Ace and Sabo seem strange to him? Why didn't Luffy like going into town ect. Marco always hated being left out of the loop so he was doing everything he could to find out answers.

A knock on his window interrupted his thoughts startling him. He cautiously got up to go investigate surprised to see Zoro crouched besides his window sill.

Reluctantly enough Marco unlatched the window letting Zoro crawl through the opening.

"Why can't you just use the door like a normal person, this is the second story."

Zoro shrugged as he sat down on Marco's bed staring around the room. It had been a while since he came here last. "In case you hadn't noticed your dads the principal of the school, I would rather take my chances with the window."

Marco sighed as he sunk back down on his desk chair turning to look at his friend, "What's up?"

Instead of answering Zoro just stared at the monitor behind Marco's head with growing amusement. "Vampires huh?"

"It's not funny," Marco snapped shutting his laptop to avoid further ridicule.

"Why are you researching that?" Zoro asked refusing to let the topic drop.

Marco sighed resigned to telling his friend the truth, no matter how stupid it sounded, "I think that man in the woods might be a vampire. I checked all over the website and it's the only thing that makes sense."

To his surprise Zoro didn't laugh or make fun of him, in fact he didn't look surprised at all.

"I know."

"Wait what?" Marco asked surprised turning once again to look at Zoro. "If it took me a week to figure it out how could you possibly know?"

Zoro raised an eyebrow in amusement, "Well for one thing it was super obvious." He ticked down his fingers as if counting down all the ways he was smarter then Marco. "Secondly I already knew there were vampires in the woods."

"How could you possibly know that," Marco argued.

"My dad's a hunter," he answered back simply, "You knew that."

Marco had known that, Zoro had told him a long time ago. But just like with the sword lessons he had long since forgotten. "But you live alone," He argued, "You haven't seen you dad in many years." Zoro had also told him that his dad was always away on business, at this point he doubted if he was still alive.

He worried Zoro would take offense to that but it hardly seemed to faze him, "Yea but he never exactly kept it a secret from me, besides the dojo I have been training at all these years is part of the hunter network."

"Fine even with all of that you have never seen an actual vampire before so how can you be sure?"

"I just asked Luffy."

"And he told you?"

Zoro shrugged, "You make it sound like it was big secret, I don't really think anyone was trying to hide it from us."

Marco thought of Sabo and Ace and the looks they shared between each other when they thought no one was looking. It was clear they had a lot of things to keep from them, but besides from Sabo's vagueness and refusal to answer their questions he had never lied to them. He had noticed Luffy and Zoro got along really well. At the time he brushed it aside but on reflection it did seem like something worth bringing up.

"What else did he tell you?"

His friend threw him a curious look but answered anyway, "I asked why the wolves' vampires and humans all seemed to hate each other, but he told me he didn't know. He said it was a race feud that had started long before he was born. But the humans hate the wolves for killing their fellow humans and the wolves hate the humans for killing their fellow wolves. It's a never ending cycle."

Marco nodded thoughtfully, "Did you ask him anything else?"

"Why do you care? If you were so curious why didn't you just ask him yourself?"

"Well I didn't know he would answer, besides I'm honestly a little scared of Ace."

Zoro snorted at that, "Well if you want to know that badly I also asked him if all Vampires were like that, and he said some were cruel and some were kind just like humans. It all depends on their personality."

"Is that all?" Marco asked disappointed.

"It's not like I interrogated him," Zoro defended, "I was just curious like he was curious about us."

"Why was he curious about us?"

Zoro raised his arms in surrender, clearly irritated by the onslaught of questions. "I don't know maybe because he hasn't talked to normal humans since he was little," Zoro said sarcastically. "The reason I stopped by was Thatch was worried about you. He said you have been obsessing over something in your room, now go get some fresh air or something for a while."

"Aren't you curious?"

"About what?"

"There are vampires, Wolves and a cabin with three boys in those woods and the village knows nothing about any of it. The only one who seems willing to tell us anything is Luffy."

Zoro sighed as he rubbed his eyes tiredly, "I guess I can see where you're coming from but its not like knowing is going to change anything."

Marco shook his head stubbornly, "That's not the point, there's something going on in those woods, something bad! And I'm worried that if we can't figure it out people are going to die."

"You're not going to give this up are you?"

"Nope!"

"Fine," Zoro sighed, "If you're so set on doing this then I guess I will help you. I need to go, I was on my way to the dojo when I stopped by but for the love of god call Thatch.

Marco smiled triumphantly as he watched his friend leave the room. He hesitated for a moment before going over to his cell phone. Zoro was bossy today.

Zoro made it to the dojo with two minutes to spare as he hurridly changed out of his clothes and into his uniform. He secured the three swords to his hip before entering the door, bowing first, and joining his teacher.

"Where's everybody else?" He asked his Koshiro sensei curiously.

"Class was canceled today Zoro."

He frowned and looked around them in surprise, he had made it just under the wire for nothing.

"Why?"

"Well you see, we got a surprise visit from some powerful people, they said they wanted to talk to you."

"Me?" He asked in surprise feeling a small sense of heaviness in his stomach, "They already questioned me about what happened in the forest."

"It's not about that," He assured him quickly, sensing his distress. "Why don't you go talk to them?"

Zoro nodded growing increasingly confused as he followed Koshiro to the next room where a small group of men sat. He recognized two instantly as Edward Newgate, Marco's dad and the principal of their school as well as Monkey D. Garp the Mayor of the town. The others he didn't recognize.

"Roronoa Zoro have a seat," Gap said kindly as Zoro sunk down beside them glancing around curiously.

Zoro glanced curiously to Marco's dad wondering why he was here.

"You have been studying here for a while?"

"Since I was a child sir."

"You said onece that you intended to become a hunter is this still true?" Garp spoke again as none of the other shady strangers seemed inclined.

"Yes sir, my dad's a hunter. I hope to follow in his footsteps and go find him one day."

"Well, if that's true we are here to make you an offer. According to your teacher you are by far the most talented and promising student. As I am sure you know the hunters are a secretive organization that are vital to the survival of this town. We are the only things standing between the humans and whatever is lurking in the forest."

Zoro nodded, he had heard this before. The dojo he trained at was used as a way for hunters to find promising young pupils to train.

A man with a heavily tattooed face finally spoke up, "I am Dragon, the current head of the hunters. But I am not as young as I used to be and thus I need someone to begin training to replace me. Originally Kuina was training to become the new head but…" He trailed off as Zoro looked up sharply.

Of course he had known that. Kuina had told him the day she was selected. At the time she was the strongest student at the academy and the natural choice. That was until her death. Zoro still didn't like to think about it. He sneaked a glance at his teacher and instantly regretted it as he turned back to the group. After her passing he honestly hadn't given any thought as to who would fill the role instead. He never imagined it would be him.

"But Kuina wasn't your first choice right?" Zoro asked curiously, "She told me that she was selected as a replacement." He stared in amazement as the mood in the room darkened considerably.

"Yes, well you see..." Garp coughed uncertainty.

"We have made many mistakes," Mr. Newgate told Zoro seriously, "We were desperate and our anticipation cost us someone's life."

Zoro nodded seriously, he thought it would be best if he let it drop at that. He honestly had no intention of becoming the head hunter. But an opportunity like this was worth considering.

"I want to become a hunter," He said seriously, "I don't know about the rest though."

Garp nodded kindly, "well just consider our offer. If you are serious about becoming a hunter then your training will begin soon."

Zoro nodded as the men stood up, bowing the Koahiro as they exited the dojou. He stared after them in dazed wonderment. Becoming a hunter was one thing but the leader of the hunter society was something else entirely. The job was dangerous, scary and downright suicidal at best. His thoughts flickered to Luffy as he watched him fearlessly fight off those wolves with nothing but a bat and a crossbow. If anyone should become the hunter leader it was him.

Meanwhile miles away deep within the forest Luffy was having his own problems. The unrest was only growing as the vampires got hungrier. In turn they were lashing out at the wolves quickly dissolving whatever form of civility that the moonlight meeting had brought about. As such it was times like these that being the only human in a forest full of monsters was not very fun.

"What are you up to today little Luffy?"

Luffy looked up sharply expecting Law but relaxing as he recognized the familiar red hair. Ever since Law had started the trend he was permanently labeled as 'little Luffy'. On one hand it was understandable as both Vampires and Wolves tended to be larger than humans, particularly Luffy. But on the other hand it was annoying. Kid didn't even like Law, so why were they exchanging nicknames? For the most parts the Vampires and Wolves didn't really interact unless it was at the midnight gatherings where representatives came to yell at each other. Each race had their own system but for the most part they kept to themselves. Vampires society's aside, Covens rarely interacted with other Covens and the same could be said about Wolf packs. The general rule was you kept your head down and out of another packs business. However there were always exceptions to that and Kid was defiantly one of them. He excelled in sticking his nose in everyone's business. At the very least he wasn't a raging psycho like Law was.

"I'm gathering wood," Luffy said raising his bundle for the Wolf to see. "What are you doing so far out of your territory?" Luffy asked reaching down to gather another stick. Kid usually sent his underlings to do his errands instead of coming himself.

"Well considering you broke my messenger Wolves jaw I didn't have much choice."

"I'm sorry," Luffy said honestly, "He attacked my friends, he was trying to eat them."

"You think everyone is your friend," Kid said irritably, "of course he was trying to eat them, he has been craving human meat for months."

Not all wolves were capable of a human form. In fact it is only a small percentage of them that have human somewhere in their family tree. It is a recessive trait that can pop up anytime down the lineage. These wolves were much better at controlling their hunger, whereas the purer the wolf genes the more they craved human. The wolves Luffy had fought most likely couldn't shift to a human form. Disturbingly enough Wolves were notorious cannibals whether that meant a Wolf shifter eating a human or a Wolf eating another Wolf. The thought had always disgusting Luffy to no end. Growing up in the forest he had seen it all.

"You're not siding with the humans are you?" Kid asked sharply.

"I'm not siding with anyone," Luffy repeated for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "I think your all being stupid. I am going to go along with whatever Ace and Sabo decide to do."

Kid nodded, satisfied by his reply he stepped closer to Luffy sniffing his hair curiously, as if checking to make sure he was telling the truth. Sure to his words Kid didn't smell the human village on Luffy. "You smell good tonight, what do you say about letting me nibble on your leg a bit? It will barley hurt I promise." He raise his eyebrow suggestively.

"No way," Luffy said sidestepping him as he gathered his sticks and began to head home. He had left his bat at home but he hardly needed it. The only true trouble came when it got dark and the Wolves and Vampires came out to hunt. That's when the need for bloodshed became strongest and they lost whatever humanity they had. Only the oddballs like Law and Kidd hunted during the day anyways.

With the sticks clutched tightly in his arms Luffy continued walking through the silent forest, keeping a careful eye on the setting sun. Things had defiantly gotten a lot rougher for him that was sure. Just yesterday he had been jumped by a desperate vampire with a blood craving, the day before that it had been a small group. He defiantly wished they resolved their problem soon as this was getting increasingly annoying.

"I'm back," He called out as he slammed the door behind him.

"Welcome Back," Sabo said from the kitchen as the smell of delicious meat wafted into the living room.

Luffy walked over to the fireplace and placed the bundle of wood in its slot, carefully feeding the fire with a few of the smaller pieces.

"Hey Luffy, see if you can't track down Ace so we can eat dinner," Sabo called to him from the kitchen which Luffy eagerly agreed too. Dropping the remainder of the sticks into the fire he hopped up and went back out the door impatient to eat dinner.

"ACE!" Luffy screamed looking for any sign of where his brother disappeared to. "Come home its dinner time." Luffy was so busy looking for the black haired wolf he didn't even notice what was in his way until he tripped over it. Rubbing his sore knee Luffy glanced back at what looked like a bloody animal. As he turned it over he realized with a start that it was no animal instead the bloody head of a human male. It looked to have been mutilated beforehand and the body was nowhere in sight, probably completely eaten up by now. Ironically enough, there was a metal whistle wedged between his blue lips. Ace temporarily forgotten Luffy picked it up gingerly and headed back for the house. With his arms full he banged on the back door with his bruised knee.

Sabo's nose crumpled in disgust as he saw what was in Luffy's hands. "What are you doing with that?"

"Somebody left it near the front of our house, I tripped over it."

Sabo covered his nose, not willing his enhanced senses to smell the decay and death coating the severed head. "It smells human and it's at least a week old, it's probably the security guard those human kids were looking for."

"Why would someone leave it in front of our house?"

"I have no idea," Sabo said gingerly taking the head from Luffy to inspect it with the least amount of contact. "It looks like a wolf did him in, from the looks of it they went a little crazy."

"It looks like a warning," Ace said walking up behind them. "Whoever left it there was trying to tell us something."

As an evening breeze blew through the trees and carried the smell of decay with it both Ace and Sabo gagged in disgust while Luffy laughed at them.

"Well they should have been more specific," Sabo said humorlessly, "We have more enemies then stars in the sky." He grabbed a rag from the kitchen wrapping the putrid thing in it before passing it too Ace. "It would probably be best if you buried it."

"Far away," Sabo yelled at him still covering his sensitive nose.

Luffy frowned as he followed Sabo back inside to help set the table (after the two of them scrubbed their hands clean). Sabo was right when he said that they had a lot of enemies. But why did they want to give them the Guards head? The only message that Luffy got from that was try not to let Wolves decapitate you, but that was something he knew beforehand. Pushing the thoughts out of his mind Luffy instead focused on the bigger problem.

Their blood supply was running low, meaning Luffy would have to go into town soon. Of course Sabo always told him he didn't have too but after everything the two of them had done for him he felt like it was the least he could do. For his part Sabo didn't drink a lot of blood to begin with compared to some other vampire gluttons. But despite how much he tried to ignore that part of him if he didn't drink human blood he would die. Sabo refused to kill any humans or take their blood by force which left it up to Ace and Luffy to make sure the jar never ran empty. Considering humans blood was hard to come by in the middle of the forest it was usually a combination of anything they could scrounge up ranging from animal blood mixed with donor blood from blood bags and even their own when they got desperate. It probably didn't taste the best but Sabo never complained.

Luffy knew he hated his dependence on blood and for that reason tried to ignore it as much as he could. But that was the equivalent of fasting for humans and Luffy could never imagine that, he loved food. He was glad to be able to do something for his brothers, even if it meant he had to go back into town. If they caught Ace or Sabo anywhere near the city limits they would kill them on the spot. The worst thing they would do to Luffy if they caught him is hurt him, but he could survive that easily. He was no stranger to pain.

"I think I figured out why they put the head near our house," Ace said as he walked back into the house.

"Whys that?" Sabo asked.

"Because they wanted his spirit to haunt our kitchen instead of theirs."

Sabo and Luffy stared at him for a second before breaking into laughter. It filled the small little house and drifted out the window into the cool night air.

Unbeknownst to them a Wolf prowled just out of their senses. It had been careful to stay in the shadows and upwind so it would not be smelt. Only when they found the head did it dare to creep closer as the horrible stench would surely mask all else. It had witness the whole thing from the human tripping on the head, to him showing the vampire noble to the wolf child burying it near the lake. Making sure there as nothing more to observe it bounded forwards to go report back to its alpha.

 **Everlight18: Yes he is! Just like he was a runaway noble in the actual story. Luffy has had some bad experiences with humans and the village so he is a little wary. I promise I will explain more about how Luffy ended up there later. Bad guy law gives me mixed feelings inside T.T Thank you for the spelling help I will defiantly try to fix that.**

 **Lostdog: Yes! Anytime!**

 **Icarus: Thank you! I love possessive Ace as well, there are so little fanfic with it in them.**

 **Guest1: Thank you!**

 **Guest 2:Thank you!**

 **I hope you liked it! Sorry it was a little shorter than usual. At least Dragon and Garp were revealed and Zoro had started down a path to badassness. Hopefully there will be Sanji and hopper next chater as well! For whatever reason I really love the ASl moments in this story in particular. It's so much fun to write and it makes me really happy. Not a lot of cute Luffy and Ace moments here but hopefully there will be a lot next chapter. Also all of my vampire facts come from really sketchy websites, according to my sources if a vampire drinks Slenderman's blood they will become a demon vampire slave ad if they drink a leprechaun's blood they might die (who comes up with this stuff?). Please comment and tell me what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4

**SEllen23:** Thank you! I am pretty obsessed with Luffy as well (and everyone in One Piece) so it sort of transfers over I think since he is the only human in the forest during a human drought they mostly want to eat him.

 **Nala1220:** There is a lot more of flaming chicken! The ASL do defiantly have a lot of enemies. Kids not really a good guy he's just not the worst out there. This version of Law kind of seems more like the one that Luffy first met (pre time skip Law).

 **UnicornsThatGamble:** Thank you! I love Law also! He is very high up on my hottest one piece character list. I hope you liked the chapter.

 **Guest:** Me too! Possessive Ace makes my day. Ace has his reasons for acting that way a lot of it relating to his race. It's not as noticeable with Sabo because Sabo loves Luffy in a bit of a different way. It sort of comes down to the differences between werewolves and vampires. I will go into why Luffy is living with them later

 **OctaveTea:** Hopefully some more action and badass-ness in this chapter. I love Law as well! He is meant to be a little creepy but mostly he is just really determined to drink Luffy's blood! Of all the humans Luffy's one of the only ones who is strong enough to stop Law from drinking his blood and Law is taking it as a persona challenge. Plus a human living in the forest interests him. More Ace and Luffy hopefully in this chapter, Ace is my favorite character as well!

 **Sorry I didn't post last week, I sort of took a break. But I hope to update Dolls as well after this! I hope you like this chapter! More is going to happen in it then in the last one. For one thing the old gang is going to get back together, including Luffy! His bromance will continue to develop with Zoro, those two are the best together. Hopefully more possessive Ace as well because there wasn't any of that in the last chapter.**

"I'm not sure this is a good idea guys," Ussop said nervously as he followed Thatch up the stairs.

Marco and Nami were already there, waiting in Thatch's room. They looked up as Ussop and Thatch walked in.

"What could possibly be the problem with this," Nami argued sitting down on the bed.

The four of them were currently all meeting in Thatch's room. They were meeting today for a very specific reason. They could no longer ignore all the strange events and occurrences their time in the forest had brought to light, Marco especially. Considering no one in this town seemed to know anything they had taken it upon themselves to try and find answers.

"Where's Zoro?" Nami asked curiously, "Isn't he supposed to be here like twenty minutes ago?"

"He lives right down the street, we can go get him," Thatch said looking outside.

Marco nodded, thoughtfully. He wished he could say that it wasn't like Zoro to miss appointments but unfortunately it was just like him. But Zoro had agreed to help him and he wasn't going to let him back out now.

They followed Thatch as the four of them went back down the stairs and onto the street, cutting through neighbors backyards. Finally coming across the familiar beaten down grey house. It was a small two story run down place with an overgrown front lawn. Zoro lived alone here as his mother had died long ago and his father had left for a job and never came back. Marco honestly felt a stab of pity as he stared at the house. It looked a little lonely.

Not willing to waste any more time Nami walked up to the door and knocked loudly. After a few seconds of unanswered silence he continued. Just when Marco was about to suggest nobody was home the door swung open.

"Hey, what's up?" Zoro asked curiously.

"Did you forget we were meeting today?"

"You were serious about that?"

"Yes," Marco said feeling a stab of annoyance, "I was very serious, now come on."

Zoro groaned before widening the door to let the four of them in, "fine, but let's do it in my room I was right in the middle of something."

Not willing to waste any more time arguing Marco and the rest followed him inside and down the cramped hallways to his room. He honestly hadn't been here since they were kids but it looked pretty much the same, even down to the food stain on the carpet. Zoros room was the only one that was closed, imitating the rebellious teenager phase as there was a large Keep Out sign on his door. Marco found this interesting as there was no longer anyone in the house who could obey it.

Everything seemed to be the same on the inside as well except for one thing. Luffy was sitting cross legged on Zoro's bed holding his Gameboy. He was biting his lip in concentration and didn't even glance up as they walked in.

From the groups surprised Marco guessed they were just as shocked to see the teen as he was. Zoro on the other hand barley looked fazed as he sat down besides Luffy staring over his shoulder.

"You died again!" He complained.

Luffy pouted as he showed the screen to Zoro, "It's not my fault this is really hard, how do you do it?"

"Practice," Zoro told him with a knowing smirk.

"It's you," Ussop squeaked the first of the group to voice his surprise. It had only been a few months since then but no one had been expecting to see him again so soon. Or ever again.

Luffy glanced up at them for the first time with his usual happy go lucky smile. "Yea," He responded clearly confused what the big deal was. "It's me."

"What are you doing?" Marco asked.

"Playing video games," Luffy said frowning as he yet again died.

"Playing is a strong word," Zoro teased with a smile as he took the device, determined to beat the level for Luffy," failing miserably is more suited."

"You've had practice," Luffy protested, staring over Zoro's shoulder to watch, "I just found out this was a thing like an hour ago."

"No like what are you doing in Zoro's house?" Thatch tried again, clearly not satisfied with his answer.

"Playing video games," Luffy and Zoro said simultaneously without looking up.

Marco sighed in surrender. He was starting to remember why it was so hard to get answers from Luffy. Sure the kid didn't lie but it took forever for them to get the right information.

"So did you two run into each other?" Nami prompted impatiently.

""Yea, I ran into Luffy in town today as he was leaving, he had no clue what video games were," Zoro said passing it back to Luffy with a triumphant smirk.

"What were you doing in town?" Marco said refusing to let the issue drop. Luffy had said he came to town a few times a year but his brothers didn't like it here.

"Chores for my brothers."

"Are you all seriously here for Marcos stupid club?" Zoro asked amused.

"It's not a club, it's a committee," Marco argued annoyed his second member was less than enthusiastic. He had promised to help and he had seemed sincere but after returning from class that day Zoro hadn't brought it up again. He had seemed a little off since then, but here playing video games Marco was relived to find his friends acting normal again. He settled onto Zoros desk chair watching the two of them play. The entire club seemed like a moot point with Luffy here. He was sure that if he wanted to Luffy could answer most of his questions as well as raise a few new ones. That would be, of course, if he stopped the answer blocking.

His attention shifted to a worn green camouflage backpack on the desk. It defiantly wasn't Zoro's. He frowned one again glancing up to make sure Luffy and Zoro were distracted before subtly unzipping the pocket. Careful not to make a sound he discreetly reached inside surprised to feel thin plastic. He tugged on one of the pieces bringing it to the mouth of the backpack. It was a case, with liquid inside. It took Marco a second to realize what it was. The entire bag was full of pouches of blood, like the kind they used at the hospital for transfusions. Horrified he shoved it back in, zipping it up again less discretely.

"What time is it?" Luffy asked suddenly looking up.

"A little before four, why?"

Luffy jumped up with a frown, "I have to go." He leaned over Marco grabbing the bag off of the desk.

"Where?" Zoro asked curiously.

"I promised Ace and Sabo that I would help them with something later," he said swinging the bag over his shoulder and getting ready to leave.

"Luffy wait," Zoro hopped off the bed handing him the Gameboy. "Take this."

Luffy blinked at him in surprise, "me…why?"

"Yes you, you clearly need it more than me, you're pretty bad. Besides it's a pretty old model, I'm sure they are easier to come by here than in the woods. Its battery powered so you should be good."

Luffy glanced down at it again and back at Zoro, "for real?"

"Yes," Zoro repeated, "Like I said you need the practice."

Luffy's face broke out into his trademark grin, "thank you!"

 **.**

Sabo was dreaming, more of a nightmare actually. He was running through the forest at top speed. The horrible sinking feeling in his gut told him something horrible was going to happen. His surroundings were sickeningly vivid, unlike any dream he had had before. Even as he sprinted he knew he was going to be too late. Ahead of him in the clearing stood his two brothers. Ace deep in battle with a vampire as Luffy stood off to the side, his eyes wide. Sabo shouted out a warning to Ace, but as he predicted it was too late.

Luffy dove forward plunging a dagger into Ace's stomached with all of his strength. Ace froze, temporarily stunned as he stared up Luffy in surprise. His confusion quickly turned to pain as blood began to gush out of the open wound. The creature he had been fighting saw his opportunity and bared down to attack Ace, its teeth sinking into his arm.

With a cry of rage Sabo barreled into its unprotected back, throwing it away from his brother. Sensing his opportunity growing short Luffy raised the knife again, attempting to finish the job. But before the knife could so much as scrape Ace's skin Sabo grabbed him, dragging him away from his injured brother. He ripped the knife out of Luffy's hand throwing it uselessly across the clearing. He held Luffy in a vice grip, pressing him again his chest as he desperately struggled to get back to Ace.

"Ace," Sabo asked trying to keep his voice calm, "Ace, are you okay?" He held his breath until a moan answered him.

"Try and stay still okay?"

He turned his attention to Luffy, forced to deal with him now least he tried to murder Ace while Sabo's patches him up.

He looked into Luffy's dark eyes seeing nothing he recognized. This was bad, very bad. Sabo was going to have to do something he never wanted to do again. Holding his jaw with one hand and keeping him still with the other Sabo narrowed his eyes in concentration. At first nothing happened but after a minute Luffy's hands tangled in Sabo's shirt as he let out a muffled moan from the back of his throat. It was quickly followed by more as he gasped in pain. As much as Sabo wanted to stop he knew he couldn't. After another tense moment Luffy gave a final gasp as his hands fell from Sabo's shirt to his side limp. A small stream of blood trickled from his nose and down his chin as Sabo watched in horror. He was hurting him. Sabo forced himself to relax his face, releasing the grip he was trying to claim on Luffy's mind. If he fought any harder it would shatter. He was too weak right now, they both were.

"Ace," he called across the clearing, "it's not working."

He frowned as he got no response, he was on his own in this. Leaning forward he rested his chin on Luffy's shoulder.

"It's not your fault," he whispered feeling the weight resting on his shoulders. This wasn't Luffy's fault, it was his. He should have known, he should have figured it out. Luffy had tried to tell him but he hadn't understood. And because of him Ace was bleeding on the ground and Luffy …. But this was no time for blame, Sabo had to fix things.

He leaned forward digging his fangs into Luffy's neck, pushing them as deep as they would go. He immediately felt Luffy press against him, trying to pull away from the pain. But Sabo wouldn't let him as he held tighter as he concentrated on the blood. A trail trickled down his chin and dripped onto the ground.

As Luffy's hand came up to shake him awake he grabbed it tightly holding the wrist in a bone crushing grip. Sabo's eyes flew open, staring into Luffy's surprised ones.

"Are you okay?"

Sabo's eyes grew wider as he glanced around, he was at home in their room, not running around the woods. Luffy was staring down at him, looking like he always did. Sabo realized he was still holding his wrist and let go, falling back onto his bed exhausted despite just waking up.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Luffy asked concern in his eyes.

Sabo glanced up at him again, studying his face carefully. Luffy looked curious and confused at the same time but with his usual hint of childlike wonder. He looked exactly like Sabo remembered, nothing like the cold and vacant expression from his dream.

Without knowing what he was doing he reached up and pulled Luffy down with him, into a firm hug. He felt Luffy squirm with surprise at the sudden contact. He wiggled his arm free putting his hand on Sabo's forehead checking his temperature.

"Are you okay?" He asked again tilting his head to the side to look at Sabo.

"I'm fine, I think," He said letting go with one hand to rub his eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Luffy laughed as he flipped over on his stomach, kneeing Sabo in the ribs as he did. "Of course, I am why wouldn't I be."

Sabo remembered the animalistic way he tried to get to Ace when Sabo had dragged him away. How he fought with everything he had to break free and kill Ace.

"Where is Ace?" Sabo asked in alarm sitting up sharply on his bed.

"Downstairs?" Luffy said with a worried frown. "What's the matter?"

Sabo once again looked at Luffy in concern. "Something bad is going to happen, I don't know when and I don't know why but it's not your fault."

He watched as Luffy's eyes grew larger as he processed what Sabo was saying. Luffy would never hurt Ace. Luffy loved Ace. Just like Sabo would never hurt his little brother. He had seen the emptiness in Luffy's eyes as he tried to kill Ace. Nothing like the way he normally looked. That wasn't Luffy. He couldn't be held accountable for his actions.

But it had been Sabo, he had been in his right mind when he hurt Luffy. Calmly and logically he had tried to break Luffy's mind, drunk his blood as he tried to fight back. He had seen the pain in his face.

"Luffy I'm sorry."

"For what?" Luffy asked wiggling out of Sabo's arms.

Before he could answer Ace interrupted them, leaning against the door frame of their bedroom.

"Come on you two, we have to go before it gets too late."

"Sabo had a bad dream," Luffy said coming to stand by Ace.

Sabo groaned as he flopped back on his bed. The dim light of the setting sun streamed through their small window. He had forgotten the three of them had to go trap hunting tonight. Hunters as of late were getting pretty bold, even going as far as to set up their traps on the outskirts of the forest. The moonlight gatherings had elected the three of them to go and disable them, and as much as Ace wanted to decline doing this would make the wolf community owe them a favor.

"I'm coming," he said, "Just give me a minute."

Ace nodded, staring at him with concern as he grabbed Luffy's arm, "come help me in the kitchen."

Sabo watched in relief as the two of them left before pulling his tired body out of bed. He knew enough to know that that wasn't a dream, it was all of their futures. He ran to the dresser where Luffy and Ace kept their clothes and rummaged through, pulling out Luffy's white tank and Ace's flannel shirt, the things he saw them wearing in the dream. He knew he was being stupid, burning two shirts wasn't going to help prevent anything. But he still had to try. Sabo couldn't just sit around waiting for that to happen. He would protect them, if it was the last thing he did.

 **.**

"So what did Sabo say to you?" Ace asked as Luffy handed him the backpack.

Luffy frowned, pulling blood bags onto the table, "he was saying a bunch of stuff that didn't really make sense.

"Like?" Ace prompted cutting a bag open and adding it to the larger jar.

"He was really worried were you were," Luffy said thoughtfully, "he also said it wasn't my fault."

"What isn't your fault?"

Luffy just shrugged, "he didn't say." He frowned at Ace's serious expression, "What is it?"

"Nothing important," Ace promised covering Luffy's mouth so he couldn't protest when Sabo walked in, looking extremely tired.

"Good morning," he greeted his brother casually.

"What are you guys doing?" Sabo asked concerned as he poured some coffee into a chipped mug.

It may just have been Ace's imagination but Sabo sounded apprehensive. "Oh nothing," he said looking down at Luffy who was busy trying to lick and pry off his hand. He let him go in order to wipe his slimy hand on the leg of his shorts.

"Come on, we better go before it gets too late."

Sabo nodded putting the mostly empty mug down in lieu of grabbing his pipe staff from the wall.

Luffy ran to the living room, standing on his tip toes to reach his crossbow from its hook on the wall. He rejoined his brothers outside as he slung the bow over his shoulder. Ace who had shifted into his wolf form blinked up at him with his soft grey eyes. Telling him to hurry up and get on already.

Luffy did as he was told, holding on for dear life as Ace broke out into a run, matching Sabo's superhuman pace as he took off through the forest. His fingers knotted in the soft fur in effort to keep still on the bumpy ride. A normal person would have fallen off, but Luffy was used to it by now. Even at their best humans were too slow to compare wolf or a Vampire. No matter how hard Luffy tried he would never be able to keep up with them, at least not alone.

"Do you remember anything that might help us?" Sabo asked curiously.

Luffy thought back, "I wasn't really paying attention when they explained that stuff to me.

Sabo nodded trying to hide his smile, sounded like Luffy to him. He tried his best to push the images of the dream rom his head. If he kept acting so on edge his brothers would defiantly pick up on it. The last thing he wanted was to make them worry. He had considered telling Ace but considering how protective he got over Luffy it might just make the situation worse.

Ace slowed down, breaking away from Sabo's fast pace to sniff the air. Luffy had to hold on to stop from falling off at the sudden stop. He turned his head towards Sabo giving a small growl.

"Here?"

Ace let out another confirming growl as Luffy raised his crossbow, pointing it towards a spot between two trees.

Just as he did Sabo felt the vaguely familiar feeling of a prickling on the back of his neck.

"Luffy wait?"

Luffy looked up at him curiously lowering his weapon, "Yea?"

"I've got this one, you two go find the other ones."

Ace gave a small whine staring up at Sabo with his all-knowing grey eyes. Even as a wolf his ability to communicate with only his eyes had always amazed him. Maybe they had simply known each other too long but either way Sabo got the message like he always did.

He rolled his eye in response, "Whatever you say, I'll catch up soon I promise."

Ace let out a low growl meant for Luffy who nodded and slung the cross bow back on his back, "Let's go," he agreed.

Sabo waited until they were out of earshot before picking up a rock from the ground and throwing it gently between the two trees. For a second nothing happened, but the eerie silence was quickly followed by a low moan as the ground seemed to spring to life. The leaves and dirt covering the trap were flung into the air as steeled cable netting burst free, tethering to one of the tree branches. The stone Sabo threw banged the netting loudly before coming to a rest on the nettings floor.

"If you have something to say to me then you should come out and say it," Sabo said still inspecting it.

For a moment no one answered him but as he turned around he was greeted with the familiar figure of Law. He was standing with his usual smirk not a foot from Sabo.

"What do you want?"

"Someone's on edge tonight," Law said with mock concern, "I wonder why."

"I don't have time for this," Sabo said once again turning away only for Law to be there in a flash.

"I bet I can guess why," he continued with his know-it-all smirk, "did someone have a bad dream?"

Sabo's eyes grew wide as he studied law's face carefully, for the first time he was paying attention to the older man. "What are you talking about?"

Law shrugged, "Oh nothing important, I was just peacefully dozing and all of a sudden I was having the strangest dream. And the weirdest part was it wasn't about me, it was about you. Your nice, sweet innocent little brother tried to kill Ace in cold blood and you had to stop him."

Law opened his mouth to continue but Sabo raised his hand to stop him, not wanting to relive it through Law's interpretation. "So why are you here?"

"Well something like that I wanted to see for myself," He scoffed crossing his arms, "but imagine my surprise finding you guys all friendly and not murderous in the least." He raised his arms in surrender, "talk about a wasted evening, but then again even your scared meaning you don't know any more than I do."

Sabo gritted his teeth at Law but didn't say anything. Supernatural creatures, vampires in particular were the most susceptible to unnatural events, they didn't have to be psychic to see thing like this. If they were powerful enough it would happen naturally. If both he and Law had the same dream that meant they were both connected to it somehow. Sabo's involvement was obvious, but what about Law. Sabo hadn't seen any sign of him the entire time.

"You did send Ace and Luffy off alone," Law said with a small smile, "Who knows maybe their stabbing each other right now."

Sabo glanced at him before staring at the spot the two of them had disappeared. With a final growl at Law he took off across the clearing. His red eyes scanned the dark forest looking for any hint to where they went. He caught their scent a few yards away and sprinted over to them. Relived to see them both acting normal. Ace had reverted back to human form as both he and Luffy were staring at something in the tree branches.

"What is it?"

Ace pointed to the sprung trap, only something told Sabo it wasn't Ace and Luffy that had done it. The net was empty of any living creature, but a severed head rested in their place. The very same severed head Luffy had tripped over.

"I thought you buried it," Sabo asked cringing.

Ace nodded, "I did, near the lake. Someone must have dug it up."

"Should we do something?" Luffy asked.

Sabo shook his head, "I don't see what good it would do us, and this is clearly a message meant for both of us as well as the hunters. If we take it down they will just find it, or send another one."

Ace froze for a second tilting his head towards the tree line, "Do you hear that?"

Sabo paused, sniffing the air tentatively, "Hunters," He said grimly, "Probably here to check on their traps. We better be nowhere close when they get the message," he said gesturing to the head. The last thing they wanted was to get framed for it.

"Luffy, lets …." He trailed off as they realized Luffy was gone. The two of them looked at each together before swearing in unison.

"He must have taken off when we mentioned hunters," Sabo said, grimly. He should have remembered Luffy's extreme aversion to them.

"We need to find him, fast."

 **.**

In the dark Luffy fumbled, tripping over a tree root. He grit his teeth and pulled himself back up. In the blackness it was hard to make out where he was going and he had no way of telling if he was going in a straight line of not. He knew he needed to stop, think logically. But the only thought in his brain was the need to get as far away from the hunters as humanly possible. It was a fight or flight reaction that had been trained into him from a young age. It was impossible to ignore instincts.

He was so intent on getting away he didn't even notice the gulch before him until he fell over it. He tumbled over scraping his palms on the sharp rocks as he grabbed at shrubs to slow his fall. He landed on his stomach at the bottom of a dry river bed.

"My, My, that was some fall."

Luffy snapped up looking around him for the source of the voice. It was nearly impossible to see anything with the blackness. His fingers closed around the dagger he always kept on him.

"You smell like fear little boy, what are you frightened of."

Luffy glared as he raised his dagger pressing his back against a tree.

"Certainty not me it seems," the voice cooed in what may have been appreciation. "You are a long way from home, didn't your parents tell you not to stray off the path least the wolves get you?"

Luffy saw the darkened figure rush past his side as he lunged towards it, but he was too slow as his knife only scraped air. It wasn't a wolf he realized, meaning this was useless. Stowing it back in his pocket he grabbed his crossbow.

"You must be Luffy then, I have heard a great deal about you, what are you doing out here all by yourself? The woods can be a dangerous place in the dark."

A pair of blood red eyes appeared before Luffy, glinting dangerously. Before Luffy could even raise the cross bow a strange calmness passed over him. His mind went blank as he stepped forward, the bow falling out of his hand. He felt the stone cold skin slither around his waist pulling him closer to the man's chest. The entire time he didn't look away from the hypnotizing red eyes. They almost seemed to glow, lighting up the dark around them.

The man turned his head to the side gently with his stone cold hand. Luffy barley registered the stabbing pain as two fangs sunk into the nape of his neck. He just stared into the blackness of the forest with a strange sense of calm. As the man continued he started to feel more and more uncomfortable as he began to squirm against him. The vague feeling of wrongness grew as his vision became spotty.

From somewhere behind him there was an angry cry and something barreling into them at high speed. He was thrown to the floor on the impact and lay there staring ahead blankly, trying to catch his breath. Somewhere above them there was fighting, loud fighting and someone was laughing.

He felt a cold hand on his neck, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Luffy," Someone called from above him. They said something else as well but he didn't quite catch it. Their tone got a little more desperate when he didn't respond. The world shifted as he was picked up off the ground. The voice called his name again but he hardly noticed. The last thing he saw before passing out was the starry sky above him.

 **.**

 **So sorry again for missing last week. I really hoped you liked this chapter. It was a lot of fun to write. A lot of things happened including more villains (that are way worse than Law). There wasn't as much possessive Ace as I hoped but it is sort of hard to do when it's just the three of them. But we got to see Luffy riding wolf Ace, and over protective Sabo, all of which made me happy. But Ace is totally being all 'HOW DARE YOU HURT LUFFY' right now, we just don't see it. Anyways please review if you like it! It will make me really happy.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry this is late, it was supposed to be finished sunday but my attention span had other plans. Anyways I thought I should add in here that this fic was actually inspired by Wolf in Sheep's clothing (the song) and Red Manse by siqwithaQ. It is ridiculously scary but there is one part where Maro and Thatch knock on the door of an abandoned house in the middle of the woods and Ace opens it and then slams it in their face and a few seconds later Sabo opens it and is all polite. It made me laugh so hard. Thus why the story starts off with Thatch and Marco knocking on a creepy abandoned house and having Ace slam it in their faces.**

 **Phonenix: Yay! I hope you will like this chapter as well! Sorry for the wait.**

 **Nala1220: Definitely, poor Luffy things are going to get a little worse for him in this chapter. Thank you!**

 **SEllen23: Yes it did! Sabo's dream cared me too. Hopefully it will all work out in the end. I'm really glad you liked it.**

 **Poemado: Sorry it took so long. Ace is my favorite everything! That was a lot of foreshadowing for poor Sabo.**

 **Arxhaelologist: Thank you! Don't Worry! Luffy's not going to turn into a vampire. That chapter definitely did take a downwards turn for them, but at least Luffy got a game boy.**

 **OctaveTea: Haha that made me laugh. Creepy Law is really fun to write, he will definitely show up later to fulfill Sabo's dream and flirt more.**

Luffy opened his eyes with a groan as harsh sunlight accosted his vision. He rolled over onto his stomach snuggling deeper into the warmth. He hoped going back to sleep would make his head hurt less.

" _You smell like fear little boy."_

Luffy gasped as the words knocked around in his head. He shot up looking around the room in concern. He was back in their shared bedroom. There was no scary man anywhere around here, it had been in his head.

Speaking of which, his head felt very strange. For one thing he had the worst headache ever. His entire head felt like it had been stuffed full of cotton. All his thoughts were muddled and slow. Luffy sat up in bed glancing around, his palm firmly pressed to his temple.

"Luffy?"

Luffy looked over at his brother in surprise. Sabo stood in the doorway watching Luffy carefully.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded still gripping his aching head, "what happened?"

Sabo hesitated for a moment before coming over and sitting on his and Ace's bed. "What do you remember?"

Luffy thought back to the previous night. They had been in the woods setting off traps and then some hunters came and… he was running.

"There was a man in the woods…," he said looking up at Sabo. He raised his hand to his neck feeling the course texture of a bandage.

Sabo watched as he trailed off raising a hand to his forehead to check his temperature. He frowned as he thought Luffy felt unusually warm against his ice cold skin.

"That was a pureblood Luffy."

He let it sink in for a moment as Luffy's eyes grew comically wide.

"AM I GOING TO….?"

"No," Sabo cut him off sharply, "nothing like that, the vampire was just being a jerk. That was two days ago, you really had both of us worried."

The two sat in silence each wrapped up in their own thoughts. "You're sure you're okay?" Sabo asked after a second once again feeling Luffy's forehead.

Luffy laughed and rolled his eyes, something he clearly had picked up from Ace. "I'm sure."

Sabo nodded and stood up, pressing the wrinkles out of his clothes. "Stay put okay, I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Where are you going?"

"The vampire council," Sabo said begrudgingly. May years ago he had sworn he would never go back there, it looks like that was a promise he would soon be breaking. "It appears they were serious about war with the humans, the traps were a last straw for them." As much as he detested that place he didn't have a choice.

"Will you be okay?"

Sabo smirked as he put his gloves on, ruffling Luffy's hair as he passed. "Don't worry about me. You're the one who's sick. Try not to move around too much okay." Even as he said it he knew it was useless. Luffy would never listen. He wasn't the type to sit still for longer than a minute.

"Ace, will be back soon, just hang tight until then."

Sabo watched as he nodded, agreeing to a promise they both knew he would never keep.

'At least he is strong,' Sabo thought to himself as he stepped outside into the cold night air. Luffy could take care of himself, He and Ace had raised him well. And if there was something he couldn't do on his own they would be there to help him, because that's what it meant to be a family.

Sabo frowned as he tipped his top hat on his head, the events of two nights ago ran through his mind. He couldn't seem to concentrate. Maybe because he had to go be civil to that asshole now after he had nearly killed Luffy.

 _._

 _He and Ace were running through the forest desperately calling Luffy's name. A new scene had stopped him in his tracks, grabbing Ace's arm._

" _What is it?"_

 _Sabo sniffed the air once more, gritting his teeth, "It's a pureblood."_

 _The two took off again, with more intensity then before. Following the smell of the pureblood led them to the small clearing at the bottom of a gulch. Their worst fears were confirmed as they watched Luffy standing there, a blank look on his face while the blond bastard hunched over him. Holding him to his chest like a treasured loved one. The image would have been quite cute if there wasn't a trail of red seeping down his neck and staining his hoodie a darker shade of red._

 _Before Sabo could so much as react Ace was charging towards them at top speed. He slammed into the man harshly throwing all three of them to the forest floor. He watched with wide eyes as Ace once again charged him only to be flung against a tree. Laughing now the vampire watched with interest._

 _Sabo pulled himself up and ran to his little brother. Luffy had yet to move as he lay on the ground, his eyes were open but glassy and unfocused. He put his cold hand on Luffys wound trying to stop any more blood from escaping._

" _Luffy?" Sabo tried, "Can you hear me?" He glanced up, paying careful attention to Ace's fight with the vampire. Nothing good could come of this, no matter how much he had it coming._

" _Ace, stop it!" He yelled to no avail. Either Ace couldn't hear him or he was straight out ignoring him._

 _Turning his attention back to Luffy. "Luffy?" His tone was more desperate as the kid didn't so much as blink or show any sign he had heard. He gently moved him onto his back before sliding his arms under and picking him up._

" _LUFFY!" He called in alarm as he watched Luffy's eyes close, falling unconscious._

" _pleasebeokaypleasebeokaypleasebeokay."He whispered under his breath shaking him gently. Luffy didn't so much as move as he was rattled. The steady trail of red continued to seep down his neck and into his clothing._

 _He watched as Ace yet again was thrown into a tree. As the wolf got up again to attack Sabo appeared in front of him creating a human wall between him and his target. Before he could even open his mouth to protest Sabo held Luffy towards him. Ace unconsciously brought up his hands to catch him as Sabo gently dropped his body into his grip. He knew it would calm Ace down enough to talk some logic into his thick head._

" _This is not a fight we want to win," Sabo said keeping his voice low. The fall out was far too great for the three of them to deal with alone. "There's nothing we can do to him without getting half the vampire race on our tail."_

" _Opps, it appears I struck a nerve," Said the blond bastard._

 _Sabo whirled to face him. The man's mouth was smeared with red blood. Sabo had to bite his lip from doing the exact thing he had stopped Ace from just minutes ago. He breathed deeply for a second calming down before addressing the Pureblood._

" _Sabo," The man greeted with fake politeness in his voice._

" _Doflamingo," Sabo said tensely. "Why did you do that?"_

" _Relax, the two of you look practically murderous." His eyes gleamed like he appreciated the thought. "I didn't hurt him I just wanted to say hello. He will be okay….probably, humans are so fragile. After all it's not every day you meet the only human living in our forest. Maybe more of them will follow his example and move in._

" _Not if you do that to them," Ace muttered angrily under his breath as he knelt down trying to stop the bleeding._

 _He continued on as if he hadn't heard him, "What I didn't expect was for the two of you to come barreling after him like rabid animals. So I take it the two of you have taken him under your wing then? You definitely are a strange pair. A runaway vampire noble, a forgotten wolf child and a hunter child, and of all the children you could have picked you decided to choose that one."_

 _It was one of the more charitable descriptions of them that Sabo had heard but it still felt sarcastic coming out of this man's mouth. Besides it sounded like he thought Sabo and Ace raided an orphanage which was both amusing and insulting._

 _When neither responded except to glare at him he continued, "You two have trained him well he didn't so much as blink when he saw me." (Ace smirked in triumph at that.) "Which makes me wonder what he was scared of."_

" _Wouldn't you like to know?" Sabo said angrily signaling to Ace it was time to leave. Ace nodded picking up Luffy once more._

" _Is it something I said?" He asked mockingly as he watched them turn to leave._

 _Ace glared at him as they began to walk home, "Touch my things again and I will kill you, no matter the consequences."_

 _Sabo raised a hand to his mouth to stop from laughing. Doflamingo's confused face was utterly priceless. With wolf logic it made perfect sense but as humans and vampires the translation got jumbled. It definitely didn't help that Ace was convinced Luffy belonged to him. Sabo had hoped Luffy would correct him when he got older but he either hadn't noticed yet or he just didn't care._

 _The two of them walked away in silence, keeping a careful eyes on the blond man. Once he was out of sight they quickly turned their attention to Luffy who had yet to stir or make so much as a sound. They had stopped the bleeding with Ace's shirt. His breathing was normal enough but his heartbeat was faint and fast._

" _Tell me what's wrong," Ace said after a few moments of silence._

 _Sabo opened his mouth to tell him it was nothing but before he could so much as get a word out Ace cut him off. "Yes there is, now are you going to brood or tell me?"_

 _Sabo sighed, not seeing much choice. "I had a bad dream," he began unsurely, "I'm not sure when or how but I know it's going to come true. Luffy… tries to kill you. He literally stabs you in the back._

 _He waited a few moments before daring to look up at Ace. To his surprise the older boy hardly seemed to be paying anyattention. He just continued walking. Frowning in annoyance Sabo grabbed a pinecone from a low hanging branch and threw it at his head. "Are you even listening, this is serious."_

 _To his surprise Ace was laughing," Yea, I'm listening."_

" _And that's all you have to say about it, Ace I don't know if you were okay or not."_

" _You don't think," Ace began, forcing the smile off his face,"that Luffy's been biding his time all these years just waiting for the perfect time to assassinate me do you? If so he may have missed some opportunities."_

 _Sabo rolled his eyes, "So you're not taking this seriously what so ever?"_

" _I am taking you seriously," Ace said, "What I'm not taking seriously is Luffy as an assassin, did you forget that's the whole reason why he came to live with us in the first place?"_

 _Sabo closed his eyes, trying his best to push Luffy's blank blood spattered face out of his mind. Despite the worry building up in his gut Ace had made him feel better. He couldn't help but laugh at Luffy the assassin. Still there was something wrong with him when he attacked Ace. But he strategically choose not to tell his brother that part._

" _If it was me I would have stabbed you in the shower, you always fall asleep in there."_

 _Ace nodded wisely, shifting Luffy's weight in his arms, "That would be a good start, you should pass it along to Luffy."_

 _._

Marco was currently not please, he was not pleased at all. One again he cursed Ussop's name. Before slamming his car door, watching the others follow suit.

Up until an hour ago he had been safely at home in his bed, where he SHOULD be! Until Zoro and Sanji had come knocking on his door demanding if he had any information on Ussop. They told him he was missing, which was usually code for getting eaten by a wolf. But this time it wasn't looking that way. They had called his house to see if he returned and they were greeted by his frantic and sickly mother. She told them his grandmother had fallen ill and needed medicine from the village. Unfortunately she lived alone on the other side of the forest. Because of the curfew help would never arrive in time. They strongly suspected Ussop had taken matters into his own hands.

His dad had left when he was very young and his mother was bedridden from a terrible sickness. Such Ussop had grown up in large part thanks to his grandmother who had taken care of him since he was a child. The thought of losing her must have been too much for him.

If anything Marco really had to hand it to the kid for being way braver then he ever thought possible. Going into the forest alone was one thing, but going in alone at night was an entirely different matter. Unfortunately brave and foolish seemed to go hand in hand.

That's why Marco, Zoro, Sanji (a kid from Zoro's grade), and Thatch were currently standing outside Marco's car staring up at the forest. As annoying as the kid was no way were they going to let him go alone, although they were still going to die. Still Marco had a set of beliefs and he was going to stick by it. If they were lucky they could head Ussop off at the start of the forest and take him back to the car. But here standing before the huge forest he seriously doubted that.

Still better late than never. Marco slung his bag over his shoulder sending a silent apology to his father in case he never made it back.

Sanji for his part made a mental note not to hang out with these people anymore after this. The news of their disappearance had blown up around town. They were just starting to plan the funerals when they reappeared. It was common knowledge that if you went into the forest at night you never came out again alive. But here were five normal teenagers who were completely unharmed even after sending nearly an entire day in the forest. Yet despite the controversy they hadn't offered anything useful to how they survived. All of their answers were vague like they had something to hide.

He wanted it on record that the only reason he had come was to impress Nami, but as it turns out her step dad had caught her sneaking out and grounded her. So here he was with a couple of dudes about to do the dumbest thing he ever had done in his entire life. And the worst part was that there wouldn't even be any women to watch him be heroic. For Sanji that was a big deal breaker.

Sanji grabbed his hunting rifle, resting it on his shoulder as his frozen fingers fumbled with the bullets. While he might not be a hunter he sure as hell knew a lot about them. He spent most of his life working at a bar on the city limits. It was frequently visited by hunters, shady characters and even the occasional Vampire. Nearly half the staff were retired hunters or ex-navy men. As far as costumers went they didn't discriminate but they definitely did know how to defend themselves if the going got rough. So Sanji knew his way around a 12 mm hunting rifle.

Zoro could definitely take care of himself. He was the only one out of all of them who actually had real hunter training. He also had to qualms about Marco. Although he may not look like much this was Edward Negates son, Sanji doubted he was helpless. Thatch he was a little unsure about. The man was definitely amazing at cooking, his skills might even rival sanji's, but hunting was a different matter.

"So what's the plan?" He asked as they began their journey into the dark woods.

Marco shrugged, holding the lantern up over his head to illuminate the road ahead of them that snaked into the trees. "Stay on the path," He said obviously.

That glanced over at Zoro curiously. His swords were attached to his hip but his attention was on his Gameboy, its screen illuminated his face with a green glow. "Are you serious, right now?"

Zoro ignored him as they filed into a single file line, their weapons ready to attack. Marco led them, keeping the lantern above their heads so they could stay in the circle of light.

"Think you can be a little less clumsy?" Sanji growled as he once again crashed into Zoro's back.

"Think you can be a little less stupid?" Zoro responded without missing a beat.

"You first," Sanji insisted his voice rising.

"Bite me."

"You wish."

"Guys shut up," Marco commanded putting a warning hand behind them to try and stop them from crashing into him.

"Do you see something?"

Marco shook his head, pulling a handgun from his belt. "No, that's why this is weird. We are deep enough in the forest that something should have at least noticed us by now, but it's completely silent. There's not even any normal forest animals."

They fell silent as they began to understand what he was saying. He was right, even the crickets had stopped chirping.

"Do you think something is following us? Why won't it just attack them?"

Marco spun around on his heels, looking for anything unusual between the trees. But as far as he could see there was nothing unusual. The inky blackness of the forest seemed to be haunting him. The light from the lantern did little to fight off the approaching darkness.

Before they could do anything a scream followed by a gunshot broke out from just ahead of them. The four of them exchanged a look before racing off towards the sound. A couple of moments later they came upon a grisly scene. Blood stained the path, splattering in all directions. Ussop and a large grey wolf stood way to close for comfort.

For a horrifying second they thought Ussop was done for, but then the wolf staggered more blood falling from the gaping wound in its side.

Marco's jaw dropped as he stared at the younger boy. He looked as scared as ever, only this time he wasn't harmless. In his shaking hands was a sniper rifle. It was pointed at the wolf but he had no intention of using it again.

Marco's jaw snapped shut as he watched grimly as the gun fell from his trembling fingers to the ground. In front of them the wolf shifted its massive weight trying to once again get back on its feet.

He dashed forward grabbing Ussop's shaking shoulder as he raised his own gun, firing off rounds into the creature's leg. Still these creatures weren't feared for nothing, a couple of bullets wouldn't keep the down for very long. Even dripping blood it charged towards them. Marco could see the bloodlust in its yellow eyes, practically glowing in the dark. It was going to kill them.

A loud howl made all of them freeze in place, the wolf included. The brambles shifted from the path in front of them as a sleek black wolf emerged. Its fangs were bared at the grey one growling in clear warning. Marco certainly had not forgotten this wolf, it still haunted his dreams. This was the first wolf he had ever seen.

Despite the smaller size the newcomer clearly intimidated the injured black one. It took a step back, no longer paying the humans any attention. With another warning whine it turned on its bleeding haunches and ran. Unwilling to give up the smaller wolf chased after it relentlessly. They listened carefully as its pained howls drifted across the cold mountain air.

"W-w-what do we do, Ussop whined from under Marco's grip.

"Run," Sanji said and nobody protested as they took off further down the trail.

"We can't run forever," Thatch argued through pained gasps.

"We hopefully won't have to," Zoro replied as he and Marco shared a quick look.

"What does that mean?"

"It means we have a plan B," Marco told him. But before anybody could ask what is was they literally tripped over it. Or rather they tripped over him.

 **Silverstar456: Thank you! Sorry it was a little late but I usually try to update either Saturday or Sunday.**

 **Ruth: Wow, that's awesome! IT totally is symbolism, I love Asl more than probably is healthy so it makes me really happy!**

 **Moonlit-Night: Haha that's some awesome One Piece word play. Yea! It totally was wow I can't believe you guessed it. There is definitely protective older bro POV in this chapter which makes me really happy. Thank you so much, I'm really glad you like it!**

 **Everlight18: I am just really glad you review it at all! I know, I didn't mean to make him unlikable just really determined but unfortunately he is sort of the plot driver for the teens because their sort of unmotivated, so in turn he is a bit pushy. Hopefully he will get more awesome. Luffy runs into more hunters soon and things get a little hectic. I will go into more of what attacked Luffy in this chapter! Things are definitely heating up.**

 **L1109: yay, thank you so much!**

 **Things are starting to get serious. Next chapter will have Luffy and co meet face to face with hunters! It will be interesting to write. Also next chapter the gang learns that Ace is a Wolf and maybe (if there is room) about Sabo as well. They definitely have a long journey ahead of them to grandmother's house. I am doing my best to add lots of AceLu time and references to the red riding hood story. But lately Sabo and Luffy moments have been asking me equally as happy Thank you so much for all the follows and reviews! Please tell me what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi! I'm sorry about the gap this week. I have been so unbelievably stressed with school I didn't have time for anything else. But! This story finally has its own cover artwork! Please check it out, (it looks much better close up.) I tried my best to make it unique to this story but most of my efforts proved pointless. Luffy's red hoodie was the only thing that really worked. Ace was supposed to have fangs, yellow eyes, wolf teeth on his necklace and his hair was supposed to look like ears. Unfortunately none of that shows up well, and the ears look like a bowl cut gone awry. But I tried. Please tell me what you think,**

 **Guest 1** : THANK YOU SO MUCH!

 **Phoenix** : Haha sorry. But if he was a vampire then most of the story's conflict would be resolved as he would no longer get picked on by the vampires and wolves. Thank you!

Pipe Dream: Yea! If you're confused on anything just ask me!

 **Pippalina** : Yard? Do you mean the Guard? The teens didn't see it happen as only Usopp was there when the Wolf came out and he ran away before the real fighting started. I think only Sabo, Luffy and Ace said werewolf (because I forgot not to call them that, whoops)

 **SEllen 23** : Haha thank you so much!

 **Arxhaelolgist** : I feel you there. I guess it's up to how the reader wants to interpret it, but while writing it I did intend for it to be platonic. Yea! Hopefully no matter how serious the story gets ASL will lighten it up.

 **Poemado** : Thank You! I am trying my best on the AceLu moments (I love them too!) I don't know why but at the last second I decided Thatch isn't Whitebeards son, but he's at their house so often it's almost the same thing. I'm glad you like it!

.

Marco moaned as he rubbed his bruised nose. He hadn't expected their plan B to be laying on the ground.

"Luffy?" Usopp asked unsurely as the boy sat up yawning. "What are you doing here?"

"Zoro called me." He said obviously. "But I fell asleep waiting for you guys."

"Who the hell is this kid?" Sanji interrupted clearly not one for surprises.

"Luffy," Marco answered simply. He wasn't really sure how to describe him beyond that.

"Yea, I got that part thanks," Sanji said irritated as he raised his flashlight to the kids face. Temporarily stunned, Luffy immediately raised his hand to shield his eyes.

This seemed to amuse Zoro as he snorted, "He's human jackass."

Sanji glared at the man, stepping closer to him ominously. "I can see that now, but thank you oh so much for your help."

"How did Zoro call you? There's no phone reception in the forest… and you don't have a phone." Thatch asked as they watched the two of them fight.

Luffy rustled around in his hoodie pockets pulling out the gaming device from a few days ago. "With this!"

"It uses proximity range and radio waves instead." Zoro said as he broke apart from Sanji, "I thought we would need his help if we were going to make it through the woods alive."

Usopp's eyes went wide as he looked at his friends, "Really you guys are going to help me?"

They all nodded, feeling the growing dread dissipate slightly with Usopp's tearful face.

"You're the best!"

"Shut up."

"I mean it! Thank you guys."

Marco shrugged turning away and scratching his head embarrassed, "Whatever kid. We should probably get going, there are two wolves still on our trail."

They nodded in agreement as they once again began running. The moon was high by now, but it offered little light as it barely managed to make it through the thick tree branches.

"So this kid… Sanji prompted refusing to let it drop.

"We met him the last time we were here," Marco said annoyed.

"What do you live in the woods?" Sanji said sarcastically.

"Yep!"

He jumped in surprise, clearly not expecting that answer. "Are you serious, it's dangerous here you know?"

"I know." Luffy said, stating the obvious.

Before they could continue a loud howl broke out from the woods. It sounded unfortunately close, but it was impossible to pinpoint the exact location. Just as Marco opened his mouth the shout for them to run Luffy spoke, or more like screamed. He cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled, almost like he was answering back.

There was a moment of silence as they all stared at him like he had gone insane. Usopp's face paled considerably.

"Are you crazy?" Sanji asked kicking him in the face. "Do you want it to find us?"

"He already knows where we are," Luffy argued, rubbing the sore spot on his head.

"Not like it matters now," Marco said, "Get to the trees as fast as you can, it looks like we have no choice but to go off the path."

With no more time to argue the four of them followed him. Just as they were about to cross over into the tree line Marco paused.

"Luffy, what are you doing, come on?"

Luffy glanced over at him curiously. He hadn't moved an inch from the path. The bat hung limply from his fingers but he made no effort to use it.

Marco frowned but lowered his own weapon, signaling for the others to stop. His heart was racing rapidly as adrenaline surged through his body, but he shoved it back down. He trusted Luffy's instincts. He had live here his whole life after all. If he wasn't scared then they shouldn't be either. But apparently his feelings weren't shared by everyone.

Sanji pushed passed Marco and began sprinting back to the trail. He grabbed Luffy's wrist and tried to pull him off the trail and out of the way. Luffy let out a surprised cry as he was pulled off balance. Never the less he dug his heels into the ground, stubbornly refusing to leave.

"What are you doing?"

"Do you have a death wish kid?"

Before Luffy could respond the sleek black wolf emerged from the bushes. Marco's warning caught in his throat as he stared at the creature. Its black fur glistened in the moonlight, but there were dark stains on its pelt and around its mouth. There was no doubt who had won the fight between the two wolves. But this time there was nothing to distract it. Its yellow eyes cut through the darkness, almost as if scanning them.

Marco raised his weapon carefully, getting ready to shoot. Wolves were vicious creatures, his short time in the woods had taught him that much. If you showed them any mercy you wouldn't live to regret it. But even as his finger closed around the trigger Zoro was at his side, pushing against his and shoving his aim off. The gun went off with a hollow bang as it ricocheted off the tree tops uselessly. Marco tried to yank it out of his friends grasp but the younger teen refused to relinquish it.

Sensing that threat gone the wolf approached the two of the still on the path. It eyes narrowed dangerously at Sanji as a low growl escaped it throat. Letting go of Luffy's wrist Sanji raised his own riffle, pointing it at the creature with the steady hands of an expert. But like what had happened with Marco Luffy stopped him, only before he could even put his finger near the trigger.

"What are you doing kid?" Sanji said angrily as he tried to wrestle the gun back.

"It's Luffy, not kid." Luffy said annoyed. His managed to finally dislodge the gun by kneeing Sanji in the face.

"Luffy, what are you doing, RUN!" Usopp said desperately from his spot in the trees. Luffy continued to ignore him as the wolf charged, its attention finally off of Sanji now that he had let go of Luffy. He didn't even try to defend himself as the creature barreled into him. Marco watched helplessly as both of them went down. Luffy knocked flat onto the ground as the black wolf towered over him.

But instead of ripping into him like they were all expecting it leaned down and nuzzled his cheek. Laughter soon filled the silence as it began to relentlessly lick his face. Luffy tried to roll away from the onslaught of slobber but the creature had him trapped between its enormous paws.

For their part the teen were shocked. With the exception of Zoro, they were all gasping like stranded fish.

Even though it was small for its species it towered over Luffy. Wolves were made to be the perfect hunters; stealthy, strong, night vision, perfect sense of smell and acute hearing, not to mention the teeth and claws. They were made to kill people not to act like house dogs. They were wild for a reason. Still here they all were, watching the fearsome wolf play with the teenager. It seemed to understand how fragile humans were and in turn was cautiously gentle.

Marco watched transfixed as he remembered to close his jaw. He hardly even noticed as Zoro let go of his gun.

"It's not going to try and kill us right?" Usopp called to Luffy nervously. His voice broke as the creature shifted its gaze to him.

"You don't recognize him?" Luffy asked as he struggled to shift the wolf off of him so he could sit up. As he did the creature brought its head up, resting its chin on Luffy's head protectively.

The pose was eerily familiar to Marco as his initial response died on his tongue.

"Ace?" He asked unsurely, surprising even himself. Large grey eyes blinked up at him in response.

"Are you serious?" Thatch asked in surprise as he came to stand by Marco's side. "But he was a person, how can he be a…."

Ace watched them with interest from his spot on the floor besides Luffy. His expression was no longer dangerous or threatening like it was to Sanji. He turned to his brother and let out a low whining growl which Luffy responded to with a laugh.

"I'm fine now," he promised.

Ace made a shuffling sound as he sniffed the bandaged around his neck.

"You guys worry too much."

By this time they had stopped arguing in order to watch the two of them.

"So you guys know a wolf somehow?" Sanji asked as he pulled himself up off the dirt path.

"It's definitely looking that way," Marco agreed still surprised. "But we thought he was a person."

Sanji nodded in understanding, although he still looked annoyed. "You're thinking of pure blood wolves. If this Wolf has a human form then he's a mixed blood. There is human somewhere in his lineage. He can shift freely between forms."

Thatch's jaw once again dropped open as he processed what he said. "Like a werewolf? That's actually real."

The blond cook rolled his eyes, "Sure, like a werewolf."

"But… if that's Ace," Usopp began, "then why was he following us?"

Luffy looked over curiously at the wolf who only let out a growl of reply before laying back down.

"He saw you guys in the forest so he started following you to see what you were up to," Luffy translated.

"He did save us from that other wolf," Thatch recalled.

"Shouldn't we be discussing this later?" Zoro asked as he stared up at the dark night sky.

"Were going to see Usopp's grandma, she's sick in bed." Luffy told the creature.

Ace gave a half snort that needed no translation. He clearly did not think this was a good idea. But either way he remained silent, rising to his feet.

"At this rate Usopps grandmother is going to die of fright," Sanji said retrieving his gun from where Luffy had dropped it.

"So Luffy? How do you know a wolf?" He asked as they once again began to make their way down the path.

"He's my brother."

"Urm… ok…" Sanji replied unsurely. "If you say so." He opened his mouth to ask further but decided better and turned his attention back to the trail.

"You knew!" Marco whispered angrily to Zoro. It honestly scared him how knowledgeable the man had become lately, especially considering how poorly he did in school. "That's why you stopped me from shooting him."

"I had a hunch," he admitted, "but Luffy confirmed it when he refused to run away."

"Do I even want to know how?"

"Well for one thing he growled at us like three times, I thought you noticed."

Marco thought back to that night, he had thought that was a bit odd. But at the same time as long as one of them didn't sprout wings he didn't care. But the more he thought about it Ace definitely acted different from Luffy and Sabo.

"Fine, you win this round," he hissed annoyed, determined not to have Zoro explain things to him anymore.

They continued on in silence, watching intently for any sign of danger. Occasionally they would see the haunting yellow glow of a wolf's eyes, but just like before Ace's presence seemed to keep them away.

"So how did you guys meet these two?" Sanji asked, "Because you definitely left it out of your town report.

"Three," Thatch corrected, "and we left it out because they asked us too. I was a little confused at the time, but this makes a lot of sense."

"They saved us when we were lost in the woods dart brow." Zoro muttered angrily.

"What did you say!"

Ignoring their fight Luffy turned his attention to Usopp. "Where did you get that gun?"

Marco looked at the sniper riffle in his hands, "I was wondering that as well."

Usopp looked down his face unusually serious, "It was my dad's, I thought he wouldn't notice if I borrowed it…. Why do you ask?"

Luffy opened h south to respond but was cut off by a sharp growl from Ace. He raised his bat with a frown as he scanned the surrounding trees.

"What's wrong?"

"Vampires, a lot of them." Luffy said looking around.

Ace gave a small growl from the back of his throat as he took off into the trees.

"He'll hold them off," Luffy said turning to the group, "We need to go."

They didn't need to be told twice as they took off down the path.

"Will he be okay alone?"

Luffy nodded, "Ace is really strong."

Marco grit his teeth but kept running.

.

Sabo crossed his arms as he leaned again the pillar. Thankfully nobody had given him any heed. All around him vampire nobles shuffled, clearly nervous about what the announcement would be. At the front of the room, all seated at a long table were the purebloods. Sabo easily picked Dofliamingo out of the crowed with his bright blond hair and fluffy boa.

Sensing the angry gaze the man turned to him and gave him a confident smirk. To which Sabo responded to by flipping the man off.

This was the absolute last place he wanted to be right now, but based on the circumstances he didn't have much choice. Still it wouldn't be good if one of his family members saw him. He hadn't seen them in years and he tried very much to keep it that way. Over all these years they had caused him nothing but trouble. At least he had yet to see Law, maybe the man wasn't coming.

Doflamingo rose, silencing the mass of nobles with a flick of his wrist. They watched with unhidden fear and anticipation.

"I'm so pleased you could all be here with me today." He began. "It had been a while since we have gathered like this. But the need to discuss the troubling issues brewing near our home front has become apparent."

The crowed began to murmur as they caught on to what he was implying. He again silenced them before continuing.

"The humans are becoming more cautious. Yet at the same time the hunters have become bolder. They tramp all over our territory and even set up traps in our northern borders. While we starve."

Cries of outrage broke out from all around. They were hungry and they were growing desperate.

"So, in order to fix this we made a pact with the wolves, they proposed raids, throwing the human own actions back in their face. If they invade our territory and slaughter us we will do the same. Together, with the wolves we will take back our forest and our food supply."

There was a moment of silence before protests broke out from the crowed.

"Let's kill them!"

"We will never be able to trust the wolves."

"Our kind doesn't need help from the likes of them."

Sabo frowned as he tuned them out. This was taking a dark turn. He had never considered both species were serious about this team up. Undoubtedly they were going to betray each other immediately afterwards. But not before they practically wiped the humans out. The carnage in this three way war would be catastrophic. It could destroy the forest and surrounding areas.

But there was something even more disconcerting. Ever since the death of Gold D. Rodger, the king of Wolves, no one had been able to successfully lead them. They had broken up into their separate packs. How could they have possibly gotten all the wolves to unite under one name? Was he simply lying, or was it much worse.

Pressing between the bodies Sabo made for the door, ignoring the prying eyes of Doflamingo as he passed. He had to tell Ace. He broke into a run as soon as he got outside. Pressing his legs to move faster as he zipped through the forest. The moon was full tonight, sending down just enough light to see normally. Strangely enough there was no sign of the wolves that usually infested these parts. Didn't those idiots understand that if they tried to wipe out the humans there would be consequences? The humans weren't as weak as they gave them credit for. They would retaliate, hard.

Finally nearing their house he came to a stop, a piece of paper hanging from the door caught his attention. It was held in place by the familiar green hunting knife.

 _Hey Sabo,_

 _Went to go find Luffy, be back in a couple of days._

 _-Ace_

Sabo frowned as he tore the note off the door looking around. Of course they were gone. That was too bad. Being back in the vampire lair after nearly a decade he was looking forward to getting home as soon as possible. Being there had reminded him why he had left, how much better off he was now. But the house was empty.

He reached up to pry the knife out of the door, tucking it into his own belt to give back to Ace later. He hoped they were okay, Luffy was still hurt, what could have possibly been important enough for another mini adventure? But he would be fine, Ace was with him after all. The dream once again flashed through his mind but he shook his head. He couldn't think like that.

He opened the door and entered the dark house. Making his way carefully to their empty bedroom. As he flopped onto his unmade bed he sent out a secret prayer that they wouldn't find themselves in too much trouble. Ironically enough a few years ago he hated being around people. The vampire nobles grated on his nerves so much he did everything in his power to steer clear of them. Spending most of his time aimlessly wandering. But now… he really couldn't stand being alone.

 _A kid no older than seven stared up at him curiously. His dark eyes were wide, showing not even a hint of fear which Sabo found extremely odd. He had never been this close to a human before and he was honestly a little unsure about how he was supposed to act. He watched Sabo transfixed, like he was about to perform some circus act. As he opened his mouth to say something the little boy brought up his hand, touching his fangs._

" _That's so cool!"_

 _Sabo blinked, taken back, "Erm… thanks." He said unsurely. In his experience humans didn't act like this. They were scared of vampires and wolves not curious. Maybe this one was defective in some way._

" _And you're sure he's human?"_

" _Pretty sure," Ace said from his spot behind Sabo. It was almost as if he was hiding from the kid._

 _He didn't know it at the time but that was the day his family became complete._

 _._

They ran faster through the trees, catching glimpses of the vampires between trees. The one who hadn't followed Ace were quickly gaining on them.

"Guns are going to be pretty useless against them," Sanji advised.

Luffy held back, firing his crossbow at a spot between the trees. It hit its target in the shoulder as the creature howled. Stooping to one knee, he reloaded and fired, once more meeting his target.

The final creature stumbled towards them, tearing the arrow out of his shoulder. Its eyes glowed red in darkness of night. But before it could get closer to them, Ace reappeared, human this time. Just like the first time they had met him he was only wearing black shorts despite how cold it was outside. He growled at the creature, leaving no room for argument. It glanced a final time at the teenagers before switching its gaze to the wolf between them and taking off.

"That's Ace I take it," Sanji whispered to Thatch who nodded.

Before anyone could say anything else they were interrupted by a loud bang. A gunshot. Ace leaned up to sniff the air, scowling.

"What is it?"

"Hunters," He said grimly.

"That's great!" Usopp said, "They can help us."

Luffy however did not share their sentiment as he tensed up. Turning on his heels, away from the sound. But he didn't make it as much as a step when Ace was by his side. He caught him around the waist stopping him in his tracks.

Luffy gave a cry of surprise as he squirmed to get free.

"Luffy calm down," Ace whispered in his ear. If he as right things were about to get worse.

He did not even hear his words as he twisted around, desperate to get free.

Ace's arms disappeared replaced by harsh and calloused ones.

 _He kicked free, hitting the ground running. They were chasing them, he could hear the sounds of their trampling feet right behind him. They were getting closer. He closed his eyes as he ran faster. He couldn't get caught, not again. But it was too late, once again strong arms closed around him, cutting off his escape route. He screamed in terror._

Ace felt a pang of guilt as Luffy screamed. But as much as he hated doing this he knew it was unavoidable. Considering what happened last time he had run away. Still despite what he said Luffy wasn't listening. His eyes were wide with fear.

Ace looked up just in time to see a group of hunters rush towards them, their guns raised and pointed at them.

"That's ones a wolf!"

"Let the kid go NOW!" The leader screamed.

Ace glared at them, as Luffy screamed again.

This wasn't good.

.

 **Ruth:** Are you scared of getting an account or writing a story? I think you be good either way! For writing a story it always help me to have a few plot points other than just the beginning so it doesn't lose momentum. I hope that helps!

 **Guest 2:** I'm really glad you like it! I hope you didn't have to wait too long.

 **Pipe Dream** : Hah thank you! Hopefully there's more references to come but its pretty hard considering the Red Riding Hood story is so short.

 **Blue** : Thank you so much! They are precious! So the way I see it is since Marco and Thatch are seniors so their 18 and since Ace is roughly the same age he is also 18. Zoro is a junior so he is 17 (Just like Sanji). Nami is a sophomore and 16. So Usopp and Luffy must be 15 ish. I really don't know about Sabo, I would say 18 like Ace but he is a vampire so probably older, but he looks 18. Thanks for the great question.

 **OctaveTea** : Thank you! That was so nice! I love them so much as well, they're the best. Law will definitely be reappearing later.

 **MadWorld** : Thank you! I love AceLu as well! Their so cute together especially when Ace is overprotective and antisocial. Law is going to get a lot more depth as an anti-hero.

 **Guest:** I think your right, but I think they know it as well.

 **Lilmymyshem:** I will definitely do my best!

 **Yay! Sorry again this was so late to update. But I hope you liked it. A lot happened in this chapter! Plus there was some Sabo character development. He doesn't like being left alone :.( Sorry Luffy was a bit of a damsel in distress lately, but he's going to get better once the PTSD passes. there's not going to be a dolls update this week. But it will pick up again next week. Please review and tell me what you think.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello! It's finally winter break thank god! A huge thanks to everyone who is supporting this story! You're the best! This is my absolute favorite fic to write! Just some notes about the story: The list of unsavory characters stalking/ opposing the brothers is going to continue to grow. Introducing yet another creepy stalker. Nothing progressing the plot quite like a mysterious figure in the woods!**

"What do we do?" Thatch whispered furiously to Marco as the teenagers watched uselessly.

"I don't see what we can do, we don't even know what's going on," Marco told him clenching his hands into fists.

Ace stood at the center of a circle of hunters, clutching Luffy tightly to his chest. Luffy, seemingly battling invisible forces, was screaming as if his life depended on it.

"Let the kid go monster," one of the hunters spat, training his gun on the wolf's forehead.

Ace glared at them, not inclined to talk to the likes of them. He clearly was not a fan of hunters, which was saying something considering Luffy's reaction to them. Keeping a careful eye on the group he leaned forward and whispered something into Luffy's ear. For a moment nothing happened, then Luffy slowly stopped struggling.

"We mean it!" One of the hunters shouted nervously.

"Do it NOW!" He screamed as the gun went off.

Ace reaction was instant as he grabbed Luffy, pulling him behind his back. Using his own body as a shield between the two.

"Stop it!" What are you doing?" Ussop cried as Zoro's fingers twitched to his swords. None of them knew what was going on but it didn't look good.

For their part the hunters looked shocked, surprised the wolf had let go so easily.

"Hurry, come here kid," They urged Luffy. He instead stared at them with wide eyes, gripping Ace's shorts.

"Come any closer and I'll eat him," Ace told them with a growl, making the hunters jump. It honestly looked like they had forgotten he could talk.

"Just let the kid go and we'll call it square okay?"

He could escape, easily since he had a 'hostage', but he seemed reluctant to leave the struggling group of humans and even more reluctant to leave his brother.

An angry look flashed through Ace's eyes, almost primal in nature as the debate had clearly triggered something deeper. "No, he's mine," he growled, his teeth glinting in the light of the flashlights.

That was definitely the wrong thing to say as it clearly pissed the hunters off.

"We need him!" Marco said, surprising everyone as he spoke up. "We caught him and in return for his life he is going to guide us to town."

"Foolish boy," the man said angrily, "you can't trust wolves", "Their all a bunch of no good liars."

"We know that now," Marco continued, "the second we turned our back it tried to eat the youngest one."

Ace raised an eyebrow at being referred to as 'it', but remained silent.

Encouraged by this Marco continued, "But you can't kill it yet, without its guidance we will never make it to the town in time to save Ussop's grandmother."

"How do you know it's not leading you to your death?"

"If it does we'll kill it." Zoro cut in, his voice calm but with an underlying tone of urgency.

The hunter thought for a moment before slowly nodding. "Fine, but it lets the kid go first."

"Come here, Luffy," Ussop called encouragingly, "Your safe now." The teens stared numbly at Luffy, holding their breath seeing what he would do.

Ace once again leaned over to whisper something in Luffy's ear, giving him a small nudge away from him.

Reluctantly he left Ace's side, still trembling like a leaf. As a hunter reached out to grab him he ducked away, snaking between them to join the group of teenagers.

"Is the kid okay?" One of them asked skeptically.

"He's fine," Thatch called back, lying through his teeth, "Just shaken up, best we leave him alone till he calms down."

The hunter nodded satisfied as they approached Ace, handcuffs in their hands. Sanji quickly grabbed Luffy's arm to stop him from running to Ace's aid.

Ace shot them a dark look, but he clearly wasn't surprised.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way Wolf."

Ace looked like he wanted to say something but a quick glance at Luffy made him change his mind. He held out his wrists in front of him.

"You clearly like things kinky." He said, the cocky smirk back on his face. "I can get into that."

"Shut up," The hunter growled humorlessly, clearly not thinking the wolf merited a real response.

"We leave at dawn, everyone get a few hours of sleep."

The teens continued to stare at the hunters, unsure if this was such a good idea. On one hand the extra man power could definitely prove useful if they ran into trouble. But they also didn't feel right about what they were doing to Ace.

"So is that a no?" Ace asked, fake disappointment in his voice.

I said SHUT UP!" The hunter said louder, kicking Ace's feet out from under him. As the young man hit the ground two hunters grabbed his arms, tying the handcuffs to a sturdy root that was protruding from the ground. It gave him a few feet of slack to move around, but still not enough to fully stand up.

'It's a leash,' Marco realized in horror. After everything that happened Marco was honestly a little confused. He had never been one to blindly accept things. That being said, enough wolves had tried to kill him in the last month to make him believe the rumors. Still though, Ace was good, Law was bad, Luffy was scared of hunters, and hunters hurt Ace. He was beginning to see a bigger picture here, one that wasn't quite as black and white as he initially thought.

Zoro had to help Sanji hold Luffy back as he watched them hurt his brother. Frowning in frustration and fear Luffy eventually stopped struggling. Thankfully before the hunters could notice.

After a few moments of tense silence Zoro leaned down to whisper something in his ear. Whatever it was made Luffy nod enthusiastically. He began to walk away from the group, across the clearing.

But in the next second Luffy was barreling at Zoro, tackling him to the ground. Zoro groaned on impact and started to fight back. The two rolled around on the forest floor as the hunters screamed, running over to separate them.

The two of them were finally pulled apart by the hunters, still fighting to get back to each other.

"Knock it off!" Yelled the hunter as he held Luffy in a bear hug, squeezing his ribs tighter as the kid struggled. Zoro was in no better shape as he was being pinned down by a pile of hunters.

Ace who had been silent the entire time yelled for the hunters to let them go. Watching as tremors ran through Luffy's body at the contact.

They finally complied as the two of them calmed down, stalking back to their suprised friends.

"What was that about?" Sanji asked amused.

"Don't worry about it!" Zoro told him with a small grin, as he nudged Luffy.

Luffy gave him a smile of his own, although a very small tense one.

"No more funny business." The hunter said angrily. "I'm on watch, the rest of you get some rest," His eyes lingered warningly on Ace, "and I warn you creature, one wrong move and I'll shoot."

Ace opened his mouth to respond with yet another lewd comment but decided it wasn't worth it.

Unwilling to pass up the only chance for sleep they would get the teens scatted out across the ground, careful to keep the group of hunters in sight. Thankfully enough the hunter on watch sat stone still on a log, his back to them. His form was half obstructed by trees and it was doubtful he would see much of them. This was a welcomed break as they were all a little unsure of just how much they should trust the newcomers. Especially after what they had seen.

Luffy for his part lay tensely on his back. No way was he going to get any sleep here, or quite possibly ever again. All the memories he tried his best not to think about were resurfacing with a vengeance.

After all sounds from the hunters had died out he cautiously opened his eyes, turning to his stomach to assess the group. Some were napping against tree trunks, others were cleaning their weapons, a bottle of gin between them. The ones that were still up were facing the other way, not even looking at the teens.

He grit his teeth as he watched them take a huge swig from the bottle before passing it. Hunters and alcohol were a horrible combination.

Silently he pushed himself to his feet, running across the clearing.

 **.**

Ace tilted his head back against the tree as he stared up at the stars. They were beautiful tonight. He tugged experimentally on the handcuffs, only serving to hurt the already bruised skin. This little encounter was reminding him why he hated humans. Although to be fair those teenagers had surprised him. Maybe this generation was going to be better than the last, better than their parents.

He looked up as Luffy walked over to him, making sure not to be seen by the adults. Ace grinned slightly, unsurprised to see his little brother. He had been confronted with his biggest fear for the first time in years, he probably wasn't handling it well. Ace honestly couldn't blame him. If he was being honest he was a little shaken up as well, all his memories of the men were not pleasant ones.

"What's up?" He asked raising his bound arms as much as he could so Luffy could crawl under and into his lap.

"Here," He said pressing a tiny metal key into Ace's hand. "For the handcuffs."

Ace couldn't help but grin as he brought his arms around Luffy, pulling him closer into a hug. So that's what the fight had been about. Luffy had made that man hold him back so he could steal the key.

"Sorry you had to get caught," Luffy told him resting his cheek on his shoulder.

Ace shrugged, "It's not your fault."

"I heard them talking… their going to kill you after we reach town."

Ace nodded, he had been expecting as much. "Good thing I got you looking out for me then right?"

He smiled in relief when Luffy gave him a small grin.

"Hunters suck."

Ace nodded in agreement, "yep."

The two sat there for a while in silence, staring up at the stars.

Ace was worried as his little brother was never silent for long. He was really rattled. No doubt he would nave nightmares for the next week all thanks to these dumb hunters. They weren't even competent from the looks of it, Ace was surprised they had survived this long.

Finally after a few minutes Luffy spoke, "Sabo said that one is a dog star."

Ace looked where Luffy was pointing, he didn't know that. Not willing to be outsmarted by someone who wasn't even here Ace pointed to the constellation above them. "Did you know that's ones the pudding constellation?"

Luffy eyes grew wide with surprise, "really?"

Ace nodded, pleased he had gotten a response out of the kid, "It's roughly shaped like a pudding stain. And the one besides it is an octopus."

Luffy's gullibility was something he never grew tired of. You could tell this kid the earth revolves around a slice of pizza and he would look at you like you were a genius. The two of them sat there, identifying constellations until Luffy eventually fell asleep, his cheek resting on Ace's shoulder.

Secretly pleased he had gotten the younger boy to fall asleep, even with the hunters around, he gently repositioned him. Laying down on his side he pulled Luffy with him, hugging him to his chest with his bound arms. The kid murmured something indistinguishable and snuggled further into his unusually warm skin, but he didn't wake up.

Ace hadn't meant to fall asleep. He really hadn't. Especially considering they were surrounded by enemies. But he had been up for over three days straight, ever since Luffy was bitten. Just as he began to drift off he smelt someone approaching. Ignoring the warning of his hazy brain he buried his face in his brother's hair.

 **.**

The man made sure to stay quite as he approached the sleeping two. They were separated from the group a ways, their backs pressed up against a tree. He had to tread quietly in case he woke up the older one. He doubted the hunters, with their clunky boots, would be able to so much as move towards them without waking him up.

Imagine his surprise, as he's on his way to slaughter this group of humans and pig out on their remains, but instead he finds the little one. The subject of his infatuation.

He dropped down to his knees, as close to the sleeping pair as he dared. It was amazing the older one hadn't woken up yet, he had never been able to get so close before. Something must truly be off for him to be such a heavy sleeper.

He stared in pure envy at the wolf. The kid was pulled tightly against his chest, while the half breed's cheek rested on his soft black hair. Why did he get to touch him, and sleep with him? No Fair!

Slowly, so not to startle him awake, he leaned over, brushing his fingers over Luffy's cheek. The kid whined, turning his head slightly, but didn't wake up. His moved his wandering fingers to the kids hair, careful to keep them away from Ace's face.

The wolf was tied to a tree, he wasn't going anywhere. He stared down at Luffy's face.

He could grab the kid, right now! Run off with him before the wolf even realized what happened.

But he shook his head dismissing the thought. His fingers knotting into the hair. Luffy would hate him. Even if he tried to explain he was doing it for the humans own good he wouldn't listen. He might even start attacking him. The thought made him frown. Even if he tried to make him see reason he would always choose the half breed and the runaway noble over him. If he ever did anything to hurt them Luffy would never forgive him.

As if sensing his thoughts the wolf curled protectively over the kid, his arms tightening almost painfully around him.

He was almost hoping that Ace would squeeze too hard just so he could be the hero and swoop in to 'save' Luffy. But the odds of that were about the same as his first plan. Like it or not the wolf was nothing if not careful with the delicate human. He seemed to know exactly how much strength would be harmful.

No, if he was going to do this he needed the wolf and vampire out of the way. But he couldn't be the one to do it. He had to appear completely blameless here. Just a compassionate and coincidental shoulder.

Going over to the nearest teenager, the elder blond haired one, he searched his pockets pulling out his phone. Walking back over to the sleeping two he knelt down on one knee, snapping a few pictures. He examined each carefully as he smiled. Yes, this would do very nicely. He licked his lips.

"Soon little one." He promised standing up, "Hopefully very soon."

 **.**

Ace woke up with a small groan. After so many sleepless nights those few hours hadn't been enough, but they were still more then he should have taken. That was a bit of a stupid move, falling asleep in the middle of a pack of hunters. Then again it wasn't exactly intentional. Besides it didn't look like anything had happened. He glanced down at Luffy still sleeping against him. A few more minutes wouldn't hurt, it's not like he was going anywhere after all. He settled back down.

Was it just his imagination or did Luffy smell a bit…?

He frowned as he leaned down sniffing his cheek. He continued the trail down his neck looking for anything out of the ordinary.

"Ace?" The boy asked sleepily as he tried to sit up. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Ace told him, refusing to let him get up. He licked his cheek, holding Luffy still as he laughed. Satisfied the smell was gone he leaned back.

"What do you think Sabo is doing right now?"

Ace shrugged, "Probably sleeping, that's all he does when we're not around."

Luffy nodded, "he said he had to go to some meeting, I bet he was sad we left."

Ace nodded, understanding what Luffy was getting at. He honestly did feel guilty they left Sabo when he needed a little moral support. "That's okay, we can make it up to him when we get back."

They were silent for a few moments before Ace tensed up.

"What is it?"

"Vampires."

Luffy tensed in his arms, "how many?"

"I'm not sure, but quite a few."

"What should we do?"

Ace sighed, "You grab the others and go, I'll hold them off as long as I can."

Luffy pushed himself up, "No way, I want to stay with you."

Ace just shook his head, "you want to help your friend right?"

Luffy nodded reluctantly.

"I'll be fine stupid," Ace said flicking his forehead, "Worry about yourself."

Luffy bit his lip but didn't argue further as he pulled out his knife and sliced the ropes tethering Ace to the root.

"Are you sure?"

"Go," Ace said pushing him away.

Luffy gave him a final look before taking off across the clearing. Zoro who had been taking a short nap was rudely awakened by Luffy jumping on top of him.

"What?" He groaned rolling over trying to push the boy away.

"Vampires," Luffy told them, "A lot of them."

Ussop, who had been pretending to sleep shot up whimpering. "What do we do?"

"We go to your grandma right?" Luffy said as Zoro sat up beside him.

"It's not like we can just ignore a group of vampires," Sanji pointed out as he also rose.

"Ace is going to stay," Luffy told them with a pout that obviously said what he thought about that.

"The hunters too, no doubt." Marco said raising his weapon.

"Alright, you guys go, I'm going to back him up."

Thatch sighed as he put a hand on his friends shoulder, "not alone you're not, I'm coming too."

"You sound like you stole your lines from cheesy 80's movies," Zoro told them as he clipped the swords to his belt.

"Shut up," Marco said as he turned his head blushing in embarrassment. In all honesty he was worried about Ace. Sure the kid was strong but he couldn't be older then the two of them. He honestly didn't trust the hunters when it came to Ace and he doubted the kid could take on both human and vampire alike. Wolf or not he wasn't indestructible.

"We'll meet up with you guys later." He told them. Before he could go Luffy caught his arm, handing him the crossbow.

"Good luck."

Marco smirked at that, "No luck involved, just good old fashion target practice."

 **.**

Whitebeard sighed as his attention once again left to stare vacantly out the window.

"So the plan to find the missing children?" Someone asked.

The same missing children, mind you, that went missing last time. Namely his son Marco.

"Theirs's already a squad of hunters out looking for them, I'm sure they've located them by now." Dragon said, his voice tense, as always.

"I'm sure they will be fine," Garp spoke up. "I think we are all aware that there's something those kids aren't telling us. Whatever guided them back last time might do it again."

Dragon frowned, clenching his fists at the comment. "It's great you have so much faith," he said sarcastically, "But I assure you there's nothing in those woods but monsters."

"Besides," He continued after a few moments of tense silence, "we all know homes not where their headed."

That's true, they were going to Ussops grandmother's house to deliver medicine. At first light the town had sent a car to deliver it. But considering it had to go around the forest it was doubtful it would make it in time. The orange haired girl had told them as much, but only after she was sure they would have no chance catching her friends.

The meeting was interrupted by a knock on the door. Monet, the secretary came in holding a cell phone.

"Someone left this at the door, I found it this morning."

Whitebeard froze as he instantly recognized it. He stood up so suddenly his the chair toppled over. Monet made no move to stop him as he snatched the cell phone from her.

"Problem?"

"It's my sons," he said carefully inspecting it. Why would someone go through the trouble of giving his sons phone back to him? Was it a message from Marco? He opened it, surprised to find it already on. A picture flooded the screen. Two boys, both with black hair were sleeping together. The older one was tethered to the ground on a short leash, his arms pressing the smaller one against him. His freckled cheek resting on spikey black hair. A vaguely familiar oversized red hoodie trailed behind him like a cape.

Whitebeard frowned as he flicked through the photos.

"What the hell?"

"What is it?"

They were all the same, of the two boys. Some were taken from different angles as the person was obviously creeping closer to them. There were dozens of pictures, many of which focused on the younger boy. The only hint of who had taken them was a heavily tattooed hand resting on the Younger one's cheek. Why was this on his son's phone? Was he trying to tell him something? Or, had someone taken his phone. Judging by the hand it was the latter. What was the point of that? Even better who were those boys, they looked vaguely familiar. The lot of them sent shivers up his spine as the photos were obviously candid.

"What is it?" Garp asked as he mutely handed him the phone. His face quickly twisted into confusion as he scrolled through the pictures. The confusion however was quickly replaced by a plethora of emotions ranging from guilt to sorrow and then back to anger. He glanced up at Dragon quickly before looking back down at the phone.

"What?" Dragon said impatiently.

"Nothing," Garp said gruffly snapping the phone shut.

Dragon raised an eye brow but didn't say anything.

"Mind if I hold onto this for a bit?"

Whitebeard shook his head. Even if he wanted to protest he didn't feel like he should. Whatever the old man was worked up about it was important. He clearly did not wish to share it with dragon. His face was more serious then he had ever seen before on the usually good natured man.

"Excuse me then," He said grabbing his coat as he stood up, "I'll let you know if I find anything else."

White Beard nodded mutely. He was worried, even more with the mysterious appearance of his son's phone. But at the same time he trusted his son, he knew how to take care of himself. He was doing it to help a friend after all. He wasn't one to charge in blindly, he had a plan. Hopefully it was a good one.

'Be safe Marco.'

 **Did the creepy pictures scare you? Because that definitely creeped me out to write. More on the later, hopefully much later. BTW, how Luffy and Ace were sleeping was based off a picture of sleeping wolf siblings. It's the cutest thing ever! Also that thing Ace always does where he rests his chin on Luffy's head is common in wolf culture.**

 **SEllen23: Here's another cliffy, sorry but otherwise it was way too long. I hope you liked it! We will get the whole backstory later!**

 **PsychopathOnADiet: Yay! Thank you. Poor Sanji didn't have a lot of lines here. If all goes well the war is still a ways off.**

 **Phonenix: I will! There was a bit of foreshadowing as Garp recognized him in the photo. Plus now there's a stalker obsessed with ruining their life, so that's bound to become an issue later. Especially if it was Dragon who had seen it first instead.**

 **Arxhaelologist: Thank you! Unfortunately Sanji did not have many lines here, but he will get more in the next one. Lol, yea sorry that was a typo. As much as I try I still miss many mistakes. I would get a beta but that would mean the chapters would be slower. I will go back and correct that, thank you.**

 **OctaveTea: Aww, thank you! Their so cute together! I hope you like the cute cuddling scene! I definitely had fun writing it. Hopefully he will show up soon.**

 **Guest 1: Thank you! Hope you like it!**

 **Guest 2: Yes! Many-a-cliffhangers, thank you!**

 **Guest 3: If you're confused about anything just ask me!**

 **PipeDream: (I apologize in advance for the long reply) I was keeping the ages out of it so everyone could make up their own! But making Luffy younger is a good point! I hadn't thought of that. The way I see it is Marco and Thatch are seniors so their around 18, Ace is a little younger than them so he's 17/18. Zoro and Sanji are juniors so they are 17ish. Ussop Is a freshmen so he is around 15. Luffy is around the same age so he is 14/15 but I could definitely see 13 as well! I have no idea with Sabo, he could be Ace's age but he's also a vampire so he could be older (I've been trying to avoid thinking about it) everyone in the forest is older (and a creep), so to them Luffy is a little kid. He is notable smaller then almost everyone, except maybe Ussop, but either way he is definitely the youngest of the bunch. He can ride Ace because wolves are freaking huge! Even a relatively small one like Ace. But either way you are welcome to make up your own ages for them!**

 **NovaTheHedgehog7500: AWW! Thank you, you're so nice! I hope you like it!**


	8. Chapter 8

**HI! Super exciting news this fic has over 100 followers! That's so awesome I can't even begin to tell you how happy that makes me! You guys are the best. This is my favorite story to write so I will do my best to make it good. Sorry this chapter is so late. I've been trying to update every 1** **st** **and 3** **rd** **Sat/Sunday. Usually I'm pretty good at it. But this week I dropped the ball (sorry)**

 **So the number of villain's is definitely pilling up, haha. I'm going to start a list so it's easier to keep count of (don't worry their not all after Luffy, that would get more chaotic then actually dangerous) So first off theirs Doflamingo, a leading force in the vampire community and not to mention a pureblood: Ace, Sabo and Luffy have caught his attention as he thinks its impossible for the species to live together as these three are doing. Next theres Law whose going to play a big part in the plot, but like someone pointed out he's not all bad. He's a neutral character. You never really know where he stands which makes him so dangerous. He appears to have an obsession with Luffy and to a certain point its true but he's highly motivated by something else. It actually has more to do with Ace and Sao then Luffy. Then there's the mysterious stalker (who is not Law). He's just kind of a Luffy stalker. Also the one who threatened them with the head in their yard (sorry for spoiling my own story) but it was crocodile. All he was doing was warning the ASl brothers to back off. I will also say Dragon is definitely a villain in this story. When he finds out Luffy is still alive things are going to get rough. There's also going to be a woodcutter and a big bad wolf later in the story.**

" _What's his name?" Garp asked as he stared at the little bundle in Makino's arms._

" _Luffy," the women said kindly, shifting his weight around.._

 _Of all the people he had known she was the most cut out to be a mother. In fact she seemed to be made for it. Her unwavering patience, her stern but gentle reprimands, not to mention her cooking which was amazing! Still her choice in names left something to be desired. What the heck was a luffy? He opened his mouth to say something but quickly stopped himself. It was her baby, if she wanted to give it a weird name that was fine by him._

" _Do you want to hold him?"_

 _Garp felt his cheeks flush red at the suggestion. He looked down at his grandson and then back at her._

" _What if I drop him?"_

" _You won't." She told him with her ever patient smile._

 _He nodded after a second holding out his arms for the child. As she passed him over he felt both his arms and his shoulders get heavily with this new weight. He was a grandpa now! What the heck did that even mean? Despite all his years of military training he was completely unprepared for this._

" _He feels soft to me." Garp told Makino concern evident in his eyes._

 _She just laughed at him, patting his arm comfortingly, "He's a baby, of course he's soft."_

" _Still, he could do with some toughening up, what do you say to some survival training bonding with his gramps?"_

 _Makino laughed, a pleasant tinkling sound as always, "maybe in a few years," she promised._

 _Their conversation had woken the little bundle up as he squirmed in Garp's arms. Two big brown eyes blinked open staring at him curiously. They perfectly mirrored his mothers, soft, kind and brimming with childish innocence. Something he prayed would never go away despite how old Luffy got._

" _Your right, a few more years." He agreed looking down at those big brown eyes. 'or maybe never.' He thought to himself. What was the harm in staying innocent for a while?_

 _He still couldn't believe this cute happy child belonged to his son. Makino sure? Not even a year old and Luffy already had his mother's smile. But Dragon? That kid had come out frowning, and it had stuck to this day. How in the heck did he manage a kid this cute? Or a better question was how did he get Makino to marry him?_

" _How is my son doing?" He asked curiously. In all honesty he hadn't seen the man in quite a while._

 _Makino's smile faltered a bit and worry clouded her bright eyes. "Ah… he's doing fine." She said finally looking up at Garp. "As you can expect, he's still saddened by Rodgers death. I don't think he will ever quite get over it."_

 _Garp nodded understandingly as he handing the squirming bundle back to his mother. "How does Dragon handle little Luffy?"_

 _Makino laughed as Luffy reached up, trying to grab a fistful of her hair to suck on. He cooed as she gave him her finger instead. "He's still adjusting, but I'm sure he's going to be a great dad."_

' _Oh right,' he thought, 'that's why the two of them are so good together. Makino saw him as the man he could be, and in turn pushed him to be his better self. He secretly blessed the world his son had found a girl like her._

 _I'm sure he will," Garp promised._

 **.**

A full day had passed since the teen's disappearance. There had been no word from Marco or any of the others. Their contacts in the town hadn't seen any sign of them either. Leading him to believe the teens were still in the woods. Hopefully the hunters had been able to locate them by now. The scouts they had sent to the other town were still a day's journey away. With nothing else to preoccupy his time Whitebeard had set out on getting some answers from Garp, who hadn't answered his phone since the meeting.

He knocked loudly on the door, surprised when it immediately flew open.

"Here's your son's phone, sorry to have taken it for so long." Garp said handing him the cell phone.

Whitebeard blinked in surprise. That was probably the first time Garp The Fist had ever apologized to him. He didn't doubt that it was also the last. He clutched the phone tightly in his hands, turning back to the man.

"Its fine, but it's not why I'm here."

Garp cast him a curious look.

Whitebeard sighed, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder, "tell me what's going on?"

Garp sighed as his shoulder slumped visibly.

"You might as well come inside, it's a long story."

Whitebeard nodded as he followed his friend inside. The Mayors house had stayed the same all these years despite the changing town around him. Whitebeard seriously doubted his TV had color. Still it suited Garp just fine.

He settled down on the couch, waiting for his friend to start. But after several moments of silence he finally spoke.

"You know those kids don't you?"

Garp nodded slowly sinking down into the worn arm chair. "He's…my grandson."

Of all the things Whitebeard had been expecting that was not one of them. Garp's grandson? He remembered that kid. He had met him a few times but only in passing. If he was remembering this correctly his name was Luffy. After his moms death Dragon started training him as the new hunter leader. Garp was never quite the same after his death.

"That's impossible, he's… dead." He told his friend gently.

Garp shook his head, "So I thought, but he's not. That was him in the picture."

Edward bit his lip unsure of what to say to him. The man had clearly lost it. They had searched for weeks for any sign of Luffy. Only to come up empty every time. Just when they were about to give up they had found his clothes, they were covered in blood and torn to shreds. Luffy's body was never recovered but it was clear what happened. Never the less Garp and Dragon had demanded that they do an autopsy. Sure enough when the results came back it was Luffy's. Even without the body the doctor told them there was far too much blood for him to have survived.

"How can you be sure?"

Garp frowned, fixing Edward with a serious expression, "you have a son, do you honestly think that you would forget his face. Despite how many years had passed?"

Whitebeard frowned, sensing to the conviction in Garps eyes. He was right, as a parent he could never forget his son, despite how many years passed. If Garp believed it then so did he.

"Who was the other boy?"

Garps expression once again turned stony, "his names Ace, he is supposed to be dead as well. We never… we just assumed he…"

Garp sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose tiredly. He looked older then even his years. It honestly caught Whitebeard by surprise. He wasn't used to seeing his friend like this.

"I understand," he told Garp patting him on his shoulder. "When Marco gets back I will ask him, what he knows."

As the other man nodded he began to walk towards the door, determined to see himself out.

"Wait!" Garp called from the living room, "Whatever you do, don't tell Dragon."

 **.**

Marco lay in the dirt, Luffy's crossbow snug against his chest. It was surprisingly easy to operate as he fired at the swarm of vampires. He missed more often than not, and fatal attacks were delegated to less important areas. Still he took down most of the vampires Ace had missed, with Thatch's help of course. Together the two of them watched Ace's back as he ran around mauling them in full wolf form.

When the attack had hit the hunters had immediately gone to fight them. Since then the three of them hadn't seen any sign of them. Although if the screams were anything to go by they were probably dead. Still they hadn't heard so much as a peep in the last hour, just ungodly silence… and grunts as Ace twisted the blood suckers limbs at awkward angles.

Luffy's group should have no trouble reaching the town at this rate. That is to say if they didn't run across any other obstacles. Still he had little doubt Luffy couldn't handle it on his own. That kid was a one man wreaking crew. Besides Zoro and Sanji were there as well, the two of them could do quite a lot of damage if they ever learned to work together.

Still if he thought Luffy was amazing Ace was better. If the hunters could just swallow their pride and ask a wolf for help then maybe so many people wouldn't die. Still he couldn't help but wonder if all wolves were this strong or if it was just Ace. Besides, he had only met a few wolves in his life but none of them seemed very keen on calm and collected conversations.

He shook the thoughts out of his mind as another Vampire stumbled across the tree line into the clearing. Thatch called to him warningly as they both raised their weapons. Laying on the small cliff perch they had perfect shots at the creatures in the valley. Thatch would distract them with gunshots while Marco took them out with the crossbow.

"How many are there?" Thatch asked dumbfounded, "did they send the entire population after us?"

Marco shrugged unsurely. He agreed with his friend, this seemed excessive. He put down the crossbow noting it was almost out of ammo. It would be fine for now, it looked like Ace was finishing the last of them off, and it only took a few hours. A part of him felt sick thinking of the fate of the hunters, and a smaller part of him felt they deserved it. That part scared the crap out of him.

"Do you think they're in town by now?"

Marco glanced at the sky above them. The early morning sun had risen fully above their heads without him even noticing. Quite a few hours must have passed by now. The four of them must be pretty close. They would have made it sometime in the night if the hunters hadn't stopped them. He hoped Ussops grandma could hold on that long.

"What was that all about?" Thatch asked as Ace walked up to them, back in his human form.

"They were sent to kill you guys," He said wiping the blood off of his face.

"What, why?"

Ace shrugged looking over his shoulder into the woods, "Who knows, it may have just been the hunters not you they were after. But with the blood shortage going around they probably just wanted some human. I doubt they care where it came from."

Thatch shivered at the thought, "they were trying to eat us."

Ace nodded, "their getting pretty desperate as well."

Marco remained silent as he bit his lip. He had heard that the curfew had stopped the slew of deaths. But he hadn't thought how that would affect the creatures of the forest. Usually they managed to snag enough humans to sustain themselves. He had no idea what they would do if they couldn't get a hold of their food supply anymore. Still he doubted it was good.

"What are they going to do?"

Ace shrugged scanning the surrounding area, "who knows, Sabo was trying to figure that out before we left."

"Why?" Thatch asked before he could stop himself.

The wolf blinked in confusion, fixing the two of them with a questioning gaze, "Why what?"

Marco sighed quickly taking over for his not so subtle friend, "What he means is it's not your problem, the three of you won't be affected by it… so why do you want to help so much?"

He hoped Ace wouldn't take offense to the claim. He hadn't meant it as an insult. From their point of view it really didn't seem like something Ace or Sabo had to worry about, Luffy maybe. If he didn't want his old town to get wiped out.

To his relief the kid just turned away, shrugging non-committedly. At least he didn't look offended. "Humans aren't exactly my favorite, but it's not like I want the village to burn."

Marco nodded seemingly satisfied with the answer. The three of them began walking back through the forest the way they had come. The other group only had a few hours head start on them. They would probably be able to catch up by nightfall. Hopefully Ussop would be able to make it to his grandmas before then.

He looked up as Thatch sent him a worried look, trying to get him to notice the younger teen's distress. Ace' shoulders were tense as he walked a few paces ahead of them. Marco wasn't sure if it was his question or something else, but something had clearly gotten to him. It probably wasn't a good idea to piss off the only tour guide they had. Also their only shot of getting out of the forest alive.

Still he couldn't help but feel like it was more than that. The first time they had met, Ace had clearly disliked them. He didn't even try to hide it. He found their distress amusing, refused to talk to them and snarled at them if they got too close to Luffy. Honestly Ace kind of intimidated Marco. And that was saying something since NOTHING intimidated him before. Although knowing that he was a wolf made things much clearer. Marco could honestly understand Ace's dislike of humans, especially after seeing the hunter's treatment of these so called 'monsters'.

But Ace seemed more open this time. Less likely to snap and kill somebody. He didn't know if it was because of their acceptance of him even after revealing his wolf form or just because they proved themselves trustworthy enough not to stab him in the back. Either way it was a welcome change.

"Thank you," Marco said after a few minutes of silence, "you didn't have to help us but you did."

Ace just shrugged again, more casually this time, "You didn't have to help your friend either but here you are."

They fell into a comfortable silence as they made their way along. All of them a little more relaxed.

"Zombies or Pirates?" Thatch finally asked. Cleary unable to stay silent longer than five minutes. Sometimes Marco swore he was secretly a five year old.

"What?" Ace asked confused.

Marco frowned at his friend, silently asking him if this was really the time for this. But he caught the gleam in Thatch's eye and understood. He was trying to get the kid to lighten up a little bit. If anybody could make someone smile it would be Thatch.

"Which one do you think is cooler?" Marco explained to the confused boy.

Ace frowned clearly torn. After a few moments of deliberation he finally asked, "What's a pirate."

Thatch smirked, putting his arm around his shoulder, "you've come to the right person."

Marco rolled his eyes, but couldn't hide the smile threatening to break out on his face. He liked this kid.

 **.**

Luffy dodged to the left just as the vampire lunged for him, dragging Ussop along with him as the teen was hugging his waist with impressive strength. His movements were restricted quite a bit by the human belt. His bat lay forgotten on the ground. Even without his crossbow he could still take down these weaklings easily. They were impenetrable not invincible.

He dug his knee into the creatures face, making is head snap to the side at an awkward angle. As it stumbled back he aimed a powerful roundhouse kick to its legs, making it topple onto its face. Before it could even think of getting up he pinned it down, his whole weight on its back, twisting its arm behind it in a way that was uncomfortable even for a vampire.

Expertly shifting his weight to its shoulders he looked behind him where Zoro and Sanji were battling the other one. The two of these creatures must have separated from the pack in order to come after them. That was a shame considering they had almost made it too town as well. Still Zoro and Sanji had handled the other one pretty efficiently. Turning his attention back to his living chair he rolled off, still not letting go of its arm.

"Burrrd."

Ussops whispered once again as the Vampire let out a muffled hiss.

Luffy frowned easing up enough so it could peel its face from the forest floor, "What?" He asked confused.

"Blood," it hissed again, more clearly, its eyes glowing red with hunger.

He sighed completely letting go in order to retrieve his bat from the ground. In turn the creature once again sprang up, its steely gaze fixed on Ussop.

"Bloooood," It whispered stepping closer.

"No!" Luffy said firmly as he smacked it on the head with his bat. Much like one does with a newspaper to a disobedient pet.

Clearly miffed by this it turned its attention back to Luffy, its fangs glinting as it hissed. Apparently vampires didn't like being told what to do.

Zoro and Sanji temporarily paused what they were doing to look up in bewilderment as Luffy hissed back. A pretty pitiful attempt no doubt but it clearly hurt the pride of the creature.

Not willing to be one upped by a human it hissed again, louder this time as it took a step towards him, raising its hands for his throat.

"Blood."

"No," He said once again hitting it on the head with his bat.

"I will feast on your innards mortal."

Luffy raised the bat to smack it again but apparently thought better.

"What are innards?"

"Its your guts," Zoro called over to him, clearly amused. More so then Sanji at least who had watched the whole interaction with a mix of impression and confusion.

"No!" Luffy said firmly, once again bopping the creature over the head, finally deeming it an inappropriate thing to say.

The creature hissed again, retreating back into the safety of the trees. Zoro and Sanji released their creature in order for it to do the same.

Once back in the trees two sets of glowing red eyes watched them from the shadows.

"I see you!" Luffy shouted raising his bat.

They retreated further into the shadows still hissing. Their red eyes were still plainly visible. Luffy sighed as he gave up, deciding that was close enough.

"Are they going to follow us the whole way to town?" Ussop asked, not able to tare his eyes off the glowing orbs. Apparently they decided they were outclassed but still refused to give up. Something that would have been endearing on a puppy but not two stone cold cretins such as those.

Sanji finally turned his surprise expression off of Luffy to answer his question. Not having seen Luffy fight the wolves he was more than a little surprised what a punch the tiny kid packed. Not to mention the hissing battle that had taken place just a minute ago.

"Being near the town makes them uncomfortable. Especially in the sunlight" He explained, "If we get close enough they will just give up. They must have been acting on someone's orders or they wouldn't have been out here during the day at all. Thankfully for us they are slower in the day."

Luffy gave an amused snort at that as he pointed his two fingers at his eyes and back to the red glowing orbs a few yards behind them, signaling he was watching them.

"You should see them during the night, they think their ninjas or something." He rolled his eyes.

Zoro laughed at that as they once again began to walk. Ussop refused to let go of Luffy's waist. He was once again traumatized. He was whimpering incoherently.

Sanji hung back a ways, reluctant to join them. Surprised how easily the three of them got along.

"Sanji come on!" Luffy pouted, "We have to go to Ussop's grandma's house!"

"Come on dart brow."

His forehead twitched in irritation as he took off after them. Shouting at the moss head.

 **.**

 **Sorry again the chapter was so late. You guys are seriously the best. Sorry if this chapter was boring. (I was half asleep when I wrote and proof read it). At least Ace/Maro/Thatch have finally started to develop a friendship! Usually I hate OC's with a burning passion but I am going to make an exception for Ussop's stripper grandma. I cannot tell you how excited I am to write that part! Anyway please tell me what you think and if you have any questions! Hope you liked it.**

 **Arxhaelolgist: Lol, that would be so funny. Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. The new stalker does have his sources, but I promise to get into that later. Zoro told Luffy to attack him because he knew the hunters could come in to stop them. Then one of them would have a better shot at grabbing the key for Ace's handcuffs. Thank you!**

 **SEllen23: It wasn't Law, there are now two creepy guys Luffy has to watch out for. Thank you though.**

 **CancerTheCrab: Aw thank you : ) The stalker creeped me out too but hopefully less so when he gets revealed. I like Fluff as well!**

 **Lostdog200: Aww thank you, I'm really glad you like the story! Yea! There are a lot of villains in the story, all of which ASL is going to have to deal with later. I promise Luffy Ace and Sabo's past is going to be hinted at from here on out. But a little more subtly for now. The stalker isn't Law (even though it totally seems like something he would do) I'm not really sure when he started stalking Luffy. It's probably been going on for a little while but not an excessive amount of time. I promise I'll get into Luffy's phobias later as well : ) Hope you like the chapter!**

 **Guest: Thank you! There my favorite to write! Ace is still a teenager/young adult. So he is too young to be full sized.**

 **OctaveTea: Aww thank you! Haha 'the creeps are multiplying exponentially'- lol its so true. Ace and Sabo will protect him! Hope you like this chapter!**

 **The Eternal Empress: Thank you! Your review made me really happy! I have no idea old Sabo is, you might be right about that. Ae on the other hand is actually a little younger then Marco and Thatch. But he currently has suffered a lot at the hands of their parents. I will go into all of their backstories later but for now it's going to be hinted at a bit through dreams and flashbacks. I think Ace and Sabo make living in the forest worthwhile in his mind. This way he has people that care about him, despite the risks. Haha I think it make take a little more to get Luffy to leave them. Maybe if they introduced him to doughnuts? That would probably do it lol. I really like you sleeper agent theory! That's the coolest. I'm really glad you like my story:)**


	9. Chapter 9

**I don't know about you guys but when I was a kid I was blown away when my friend told me her mom had a cell phone with a camera in it. And I'm only eighteen. Technology really has come a long way in such a short time.**

 **For starters those were the nicest review I've ever gotton! I am so glad you guys like this story! I promise I will do my best to make this story good. You guys are the best. I know I've said this before but if I ever don't reply to you it is an accident I swear. Just let me know and I will fix it. If you're ever curious about anything just let me know! I love answering questions!**

"That's amazing!" Luffy said excitedly as he stared at the device in Zoro' hand.

Zoro frowned looking down at his own hand as well. Amazing was a strong word to describe it. It was just a calculator. One of those fancy color graphing calculators.

"It can really play games?" Luffy asked his face displaying such awe that Zoro couldn't help but laugh.

"It also graphs." He told Luffy showing him. "And you can type on it."

Unable to control his enthusiasm Luffy grabbed the device from Zoro, inspecting it carefully.

"Wow!"

Zoro laughed again at that. Luffy's excitement for common house hold items was sort of endearing. It was a fancy calculator but it was still just a calculator. He used one just like it for school.

"Wait till you see the stovetops. Some of them are just circles that heat up." He hadn't even broached the children toys section yet. Something told him that if he showed Luffy the remote control pirate ship he would have to buy it for him.

The three of them were currently hanging out at a nearby store. The town was small and in turn they only had a few shops. But even the limited selection was enough to amaze Luffy. Upon arriving in town Ussop had immediately taken off toward his Grandmother's house to give her the medicine. Zoro, Luffy and Sanji had stayed behind, keeping close to the tree line waiting for Ace, Thatch and Marco. They figured it would be best to give Ussop and his Grandmother a little space for a while. Besides Luffy was more than happy to go window shopping. The store managers were less than happy that he tried to touch everything.

Sanji had taken the helm of the serious one. He was currently reloading their ammo and replacing the broken weapons. Despite how helpful this was it pissed Zoro off to no end. Everything that kid did seemed to piss him off.

"Do you think Ussop made it to his grandmothers in time?" Luffy asked curiously as they made their way out of the shop.

Zoro shrugged. "Hopefully."

They watched as Sanji came up to them, his backpack slung across one shoulder. No doubt full of spare bullets. He handed a long bulky package to Luffy. It was wrapped in brown paper but it had some oddly shaped bulges.

"What is it?" Luffy asked curiously shifting it in his hands.

"Portable crossbow," Sanji told him as he reloaded his gun. He smirked at Luffy's confused gaze.

"It's for you."

Luffy's smile grew comically wide. "Really! I can keep it!"

Sanji nodded. "If a tiny kid like you is going to be watching my back against a hoard of vampires then it would be a comfort if your weapons weren't fifty years outdated."

Completely ignoring the insult part Luffy instead choose to hug Sanji. Much to the blonde's annoyance.

"Thank You!" He said as Sanji pushed him away.

"Yea Yea whatever," Sanji said. "Seriously how old was your last one anyways?"

Luffy shrugged noncommittally. "Who knows, I found it."

"Just lying around in the forest?" He asked confused.

Luffy nodded oblivious to Sanji's confusion as he inspected the new weapon.

"Don't you think that was a bit odd?" Zoro prompted, jumping into the conversation.

"No! Hunters are always leaving stuff lying around. Especially when they get mauled or eaten."

Zoro and Sanji exchanged a surprised look at that. They had never really thought about that. Were there just piles of human stuff at the bottom of a lake somewhere or did the creatures make use of it.

"Where does the rest of it go?"

Luffy shrugged. "Who knows? Some of it the Vampires take for their hoard. But I think most of it gets burned."

"Why?" Zoro and Sanji asked unanimously.

"I'm not sure. They don't really like humans so they try their best to get rid of everything human related. As long as it disappears they don't really care what happens to it. Sometimes they ask Ace to do it."

Sanji blinked in surprise, "Why him?"

"Well he really likes fire," Luffy explained. "Sabo says he's a pile maniac."

"What?" Sanji asked clearly lost.

"Pyromaniac." Zoro translated helpfully. That did sound like a plausible personality quirk for the wolf teen.

"Great!" Sanji said sarcastically as he slung his weapon over his shoulder. "We should probably head back to the boarder. The others could be getting here anytime."

Zoro and Luffy followed him down the street and back to the edge of town. They walked in relative silence, occasionally stopping to pull Luffy away from a window display. The town was a quaint one, not as large as Zoro and Sanji were used too. But apparently it was much less excluded then the woods and Luffy was drinking in every bit of it. Anybody who spent five minutes with the kid could easily recognize he was a people person. An extravert through and through. So apparently the opportunity to be around people was exciting to him. No doubt it must have also been nice to be around his own kind again. The questioned remained why he was so reserved in his home town but not here.

"Will the three of them be okay?" Zoro asked.

Luffy just laughed at his concern, "Of course they will, Ace is really strong."

The trio once again lapsed into silence. The sun had risen long ago and the day was warm despite being in the midst of fall. They stayed that way until they arrived at the boarder of the woods. It was a little ways from town across a scarcely used road. A large neon sign warned passersby's about the horrors that lay inside.

"Hey Luffy?" Sanji prompted.

"Mhmm?"

"Why don't you like hunters? If you're a hunter you should be used to them right?"

Both Zoro and Luffy stared at Sanji like he had grown a second head. They both were surprised but Luffy looked like he had just gotten slapped. He took a step backwards from the force of the invisible hit.

"Luffy's a hunter?" Zoro questioned.

Sanji nodded. He had seen the tattoo on Luffy's wrist when he grabbed him. It was usually covered by his red hoodie but in their struggle it had been revealed.

For the first time since they met Luffy he was at a loss of words. He looked lost. He opened his mouth to reply but closed it again unsure of what to do.

Sensing his obvious discomfort Sanji raised his hands in a sign of surrender. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. It was just a question." For the first time his voice became soft.

Zoro was about to cut in when three voices from the forest.

"Alright! I get it already." Ace's clear voice rang out across the clearing.

"No you don't! I haven't even told you about the best part."

"Yes you have." Marco argued. "You've told us at least three times now. WE GET IT, Pirates are better than ninjas. Let it go."

The three of them paused as they saw Zoro Sani and Luffy. Thatch waved excitedly. "Hey you guys! We made it."

"You broke him!" Ace accused as they walked up to the group.

Luffy was unusually pale and still. For a kid who was full of way too much energy it was pretty noticeable.

Ace put his hand on Luffys shoulder, snapping his fingers in the kids face to get his attention.

"Oy, Lu?"

Luffy snapped out of his own thoughts, grinning when he saw Ace standing there.

"Your back!"

"Welcome back to reality." Ace said sarcastically throwing his arm around Luffy's shoulder.

"What the hell did you ask?" Thatch whispered to Sanji as the group began to make its way to town.

Sanji shrugged. "Who the hells knows? Probably something I shouldn't have."

Still something was tugging at the back of his mind. Not for the first time since they had met Luffy had thoroughly surprised him. For starters Luffy was way too young to have that tattoo. They usually didn't begin the official training until the candidate was a teenager. And even then it took years to become a full fledge hunter. Plus being a hunter was a lot like having a first aid certification. It never really went away. You didn't just wake up one day and decide not to know a thing about saving lives. It was for life.

Sanji was not a hunter himself but working at the road house he did know a lot about them. He was pretty sure living with a wolf was a big no no in the hunter community. Besides his weapons were outdated as hell. No self-respecting hunter would allow themselves to be seen with such low grade material. Even in the woods when they had gotton cornered by vampires. Luffy had let them go. He clearly could have killed them both. Not to mention there was a wolf right fricking there! Yet engaging in a fight with Ace to the death over the pride of the human race seemed to be the last thing on his mind. Either there was something more going on here or Luffy was the crappiest hunter he had ever met.

They made their way back to town in relative silence. Ussop met the halfway. He looked tired but relived.

"She's going to be okay you guys! We got the medicine to her in time. The doctors say she is too angry to die anyways."

"Angry about what?" They couldn't help but ask.

Ussop shrugged, "Who knows. She is just kind of an angry person… want to meet her?"

Luffy cheered in excitement while the others looked away awkwardly.

"I don't know if she wants to see me… my hairs a mess."

"I haven't showered today and I smell like I slept on the ground."

"Do I have to?"

Ussops eyes were pleading, "Please guys, she really wants to meet you."

Luffy grabbed Ace's hand and began to drag him towards Ussop. "Come on it will be fun."

Ace dug his heels into the ground looking hesitantly at the town boundary in front of them. If Marco didn't know him better he would almost call the expression fear. But if Ace had proved anything to him it would be that he didn't get scared.

"Please?" Ussop asked again.

"Fine," Sanji sighed. "If it's that freaking important I'll go. I mean she did just nearly die."

Although his words weren't meant to be inspirational they seemed to convince the others. It was pretty hard to turn down the wishes of a sick old lady. The same old lady they had just tramped through wolf infested woods to save.

Both Luffy and Ussop cheered as the group began making its way towards a hill just on the outskirts of town. It was doubtful Luffy really even knew what he was cheering for.

As it turned out Ussops grandma was definitely not the typical granny. After another thirty minutes of walking they had finally arrived at her small and quaint house. It was pretty much what they were expecting. It was a pleasant looking two story house with Victorian style architecture. There were flower boxes below each window full of what used to be summer time flowers. The frost of fall had clearly wiped them out. It was the perfect house of an elderly and ailing grandmother. Which was very misleading after they actually met her. Ussop was right, she was angry.

The doctor had left a few hours ago. Purposely giving Ussop some time with his gran. He had promised to come back and check on her in the mourning.

Being respectfully quite the group tiptoed up the rickety wooden stairs to her bedroom on the second story.

"Grandma we're here." Ussop called to her.

She turned to them, wearing hue coke bottle glasses that seemed to magnify her eyes.

"What big eyes you have." Ussop said sarcastically.

"And what big teeth you have as well."

He was of course referring to the large set of false teeth on her bedside table. They looked much too big for such a frail old lady. Undoubtedly the effect was quite comical.

"Eh? What did you say boy?" She asked.

She grabbed an old fashioned hearing aid from her bedside table. It looked rather like an old trumpet. Those things had gone out of use years ago. They had much smaller and more efficient ones now. No doubt she hadn't gotten the message. It was a miracle she got any message with that thing. Still it was a wonder no one had thrown it out when she wasn't looking. It was an abomination to the modern world.

"I said what big ears you have grandma." Ussop called loudly.

The group of teens ducked as the ancient hearing aid came flying towards them. They managed to move out of the way just in time for it to collide with the wall. Somehow and seemingly impossibly it was unscratched. For such an old lady she sure could throw well. It was hard to believe she was on her death bed just hours earlier.

"Don't get smart with me." She warned menacingly. Her enlarged eyes blinking dangerously.

Marco coughed loudly, trying to break the tension. "Well it's getting pretty late and I'm sure the two of you want to catch up so we will just be going." They could probably crash at a motel for a night. Undoubtedly Ussop wanted to stay until she fully recovered. They couldn't very well just leave him here to find his way back to town on his own.

"Nonsense." She scoffed. "You seven are staying here for the night. I'll go make up the living room for you." She said as she moved to rise from the bed.

"No!" Every in the room cried in alarm. The doctors had specifically ordered her to stay down and rest for the day.

"We can do it ourselves Gran." Ussop promised quickly.

"Y'all so jumpy." She said shaking her head as they exited the room. She continued to mumble angrily about being treated like a softie.

Ussop laughed nervously as he gently shut her door.

"Good old Gam Gam, she never changes."

"She is a piece of work alright." Marco said as another crash sounded from the room. She had clearly thrown something else.

"I like her." Ace said crossing his arms. Of course he would. The two of them went oddly well together.

"She's funny." Luffy agreed with a laugh.

"What do we do now? It's not like we're going anywhere for a while." Thatch pointed out.

"I'm going to bed." Zoro stated as he pushed passed them. Heading towards the living room. Unable to offer any suggestions the teens followed him. With the exception of Sanji who went decidedly for the kitchen. No doubt to start preparing.

They all made themselves comfy on the scatter of furniture, most of it looked quite old indeed. Zoro had no problem hunkering down on one of the smaller couches. He was asleep in minuets and his snores were quite audible. That was ne carefree person.

Thatch on the other hand looked like a kid at a sleep over. He jumped up excitedly and ran over to the tv grabbing an old vhs tape from the top. He pushed it into Ace's face proudly.

"See! This is a pirate!" He said pointing to the cover. It looked to be a copy of an old pirate documentary.

At the word Pirate Luffy immediately perked up, he crawled over a sleeping Zoro to investigate the tape.

"Pirates!" He cheered excitedly, snatching the tape from Thacth to inspect it.

"You know what they are?" Ace asked with a mix of surprise and exasperation.

Luffy nodded enthusiastically. "When I was little I really wanted to be a pirate when I grew up."

Thatch's eyes practically lit up at the confession as he took the tape back. "Guess what we are watching tonight guys!"

Marco and Ace moaned unanimously. This was the last thing they wanted to do. Sure pirates seemed cool, no argument here. But at the same time the documentary looked like it was in black and white. Plus it was bound to be boring.

"Do we have to?"

"Yes!" Thatch said as he once again rose to play the tape.

Marco shared a look with Ace as they both sighed. Neither very keen on doing this. Sadly enough they were the only ones who seemed to care. Even after Sanji returned from the kitchen he didn't voice any complaint.

"This is what humans waste their time doing?" Ace asked in disbelief. "Its mind numbing!"

"Most things are more exciting than this," Marco explained.

"Pirates are always exciting!" Thatch insisted."

After a solid hour of watching blurry black and white ships sail slowly across the harbor all Ace had learned was it took pirates forever to get where they intended. They weren't nearly as cool as Thatch and Luffy had suggested. Aside from being continuously wasted it looked like a pretty dull profession. Besides if Luffy wanted to be one then it was probably impossible and or dangerous.

 **.**

Ace woke up with a start with Thatch snoring loudly besides him.

He squeezed his eyes closed willing the images to go away. The worst part of waking up in the middle of a nightmare was having to remember it. Was this how Luffy felt? Being in the human village did absolutely nothing to calm his nerves. Even though there were substantially less hunters here it was still weighing heavily on his shoulders. Despite having a human mother the villagers had made it pretty clear they considered him a monster. The same as the creatures that resided in the forest. As long as he had wolf blood in his veins that was all they would ever see him as.

He pushed himself off the couch, still panting. He scanned the group of teenager before him, finding his brother among them with ease. Luffy was sleeping on the floor, curled over on his side. His dream still fresh in his mind he made his way across the floor, kneeling besides his brother.

"Luffy?" He asked shaking his shoulder.

When Luffy didn't respond he grew worried. Images from his dream flashed through his head. They took the rational part of his brain and replaced it with fear.

 _Luffy was dead, the humans had already gotton to him_

Ace rolled him onto his back, shaking both his shoulders so roughly his back lifted off the ground a few centimeters.

"Yea?" Luffy asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes with his hand. "What's the matter Ace?"

Relief flooded through him. He was being stupid, Luffy was fine. There was no angry mob of humans trying to kill them. Being in this town did nothing to comfort him. He had never been surrounded by humans like this. It honestly wasn't a pleasant experience. They were such fickle creatures. It was almost too easy to get them into a tizzy and make them do something they would regret.

He fell on top of Luffy in relief causing the boy to let out a surprised chirp.

"Did you have a bad dream Ace?"

"Mmm." Ace answered back sleepily. He voice was muffled by Luffy's shoulder.

He was too tired to scold Luffy for suggesting such a thing. He was too brave for such things as bad dreams and nightmares. That was just ridiculous. Usually he would hit him for saying such a thing but seeing as it was so late he would let it go this time.

He could smell Luffy's heartbeat. No doubt this is what Sabo had to deal with at all times. He as probably used to it by now. They had all been living together for quite some time. But it wasn't just Luffy's. Ace had a heart beat as well with blood more human than wolf.

'Poor Sabo.' He thought with an evil smirk. So much blackmails material right here.

If he concentrated he could feel the heart beat as well. Pounding against him insistently. Like an steady and reassuring drum. Hopefully the next time he woke up in a blind panic it would be enough to send him back to sleep. Nobody was going to die because of him ever again. He would make sure of it.

 **.**

"You young people! All you do is sleep. In my day we were a working folk." A shrill voice said.

Ace muffled a groan as he shifted around, burying his face in his arms. He was still on the floor, the rough carpet scratching his face. Besides him he could see the blurry shapes of the other teens. Luffy had disappeared sometime in the night, probably at the prospect of food. That kid had a one track mind

"Gam Gam! What are you doing up?" Ussop asked horrified.

"Don't treat me like I'm useless." She snapped. "Now how about you boys go get me some food and I'll fix us up something."

"No need ma'am, I already made something last night. You should probably go back to bed."

Ussops grandma sure was a strong one. She was on her death bed just a few hours earlier. She sure had bounced back quickly. Especially considering how old she was.

"I like this one." She told Ussop.

"Grandma! Go back to bed!"

"Fine fine." She muttered standing up. "You all better not break my house though." She added as she headed back up the stairs.

"She is truly an inspiration to all us young people." Marco said dryly as they all stood up. He and Sanji had crashed on the couch. Ussop had slept ungracefully on an arm chair. Leaving Thatch and Ace the floor. Unsurprisingly it was Luffy and Zoro who were missing.

Ace sighed as he stood up. He really should find Luffy. The sleep had been a welcomed gift. He felt fresher and decidedly less on edge. Although being enclosed by so many humans did nothing for his head space. They were everywhere, especially in town. It truly was a wonder that their senses were so dull they couldn't even recognize a wolf in sheep's clothing.

To his surprise the others teens accompanied him. They claimed they didn't have anything better to do with the day. Besides it probably was best if they stuck together, at least for now.

Surprisingly enough the kitchen was empty, although the fridge held significantly less food then before. No doubt Luffy had been here. They weren't upstairs either, nor in the yard.

Ace throw up his arms in defeat, "Where else is there? Did those idiots go to town?"

"They might be in the shed." Ussop said helpfully.

"Think you could have said something earlier." Sanji pointed out angrily as they began to make their way out there.

"Why would they be in the shed?" Thatch asked the slightly more pressing matter.

"They like weapons right?"

Ace snorted as he made his way across the yard. That definitely sounded like Luffy. It was a miracle he hadn't caused more chaos yet. Despite being highly trained with weapons Ace did not trust him around a shed full of them.

"Hey Lu," He said opening the shed door, "Come on we're going to go into town."

As Ussop said the shed was full of weapons. It was nicer and larger than most sheds he had seen. Zoro was at one end carefully inspecting the sword on the wall. He was muttering under his breath about the steel density or something equally convoluted. Every time it looked like he was going to touch the sword his hands pulled back.

Luffy to everyone's surprise wasn't even touching the weapons. Instead he was riffling through a stack of old black a white pictures. A fond smile on his face.

"What are you guys doing?" Ussop asked squeezing through the crowded doorway.

"Whose stuff is this?" Thatch asked impressed by the sheer number of fire arms. Everyone was sort of hoping it wasn't Ussops grandmas. Although it wouldn't really surprise them.

Ussop opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by Luffy.

"It's his dad's stuff."

"Yea! How did you know that?"

Luffy put the pictures down with a smile. "I know your dad!"

"Really!" Ussop's eyes grew incredibly wide. But the initial excitement was quickly replaced by confusion.

"How could you know him?"

"He' a hunter." Luffy said simply standing up. "He came to my house when I was younger with Shanks."

"Shanks?"

At the mention of the name both Sanji and Zoro perked up. But if they recognized it they didn't say anything.

Luffy nodded, "Yea he's his boss or something. Anyways I thought you looked familiar when I first met you. Plus you have one of his guns."

Ussops eyes were impossibly wide, brimming with unshed tears. That was curious considering all Ussop seemed to do is cry. "You really knew my dad!"

"Yep! He is pretty cool. Not as cool as Shanks though." Luffy clutched his hoodie tighter at that. "He wouldn't shut up about you. Especially when he got drunk."

Although the way Luffy put it wasn't exactly a compliment Ussop still teared up, snot and tears mingled on his face at the sentiment.

"R-Really?"

"Yep!" Luffy chirped happily.

That only sent him into another round of sobs. "My dad's the best."

The teens had gathered outside of the shed. The sunlight clearly illuminating the yard giving it that special reddish tinge that all ways accompanied the sun rise. Ussops grandma had sure woken them up early. From their vantage point on the hill they had a clear view of town.

"If you recognized Ussop from the beginning why didn't you say anything?" Zoro chided.

Luffy shrugged. "You didn't ask."

Marco opened his mouth to protest but Ace cut him off with a laugh. "Trust me, that's the best you are going to get from him. Who knows what goes on in that head of his?"

"Did you know about this?" He accused Ace.

Ace just shrugged again. "Nope. Like I said kids full of surprises."

"Come on! Let's go to town" Luffy said cutting their conversation short. "They have toasters that burn Spiderman's face into the toast!"

"What the hell is a toaster?" Ace asked confused as he followed his brother.

 **.**

The lone wolf frowned as it watched the town from the overhanging hill. He didn't even bother getting closer. It was clear the pictures had not reached their intended target. He frowned, chiding himself for being so careless. It looked like he would have to try again some other way. Surely Dragon would not stand for his son living with monsters. Unbeknownst to him he had been the laughing stalk of the forest for years. Who can take a hunter seriously if he can't even control his own son? Once he was made aware of the situation he would undoubtedly take care of the vampire and Wolf. Luffy's so called protectors. At that time He could swoop in and 'save' Luffy from his new hell. It was a win win situation. Dragon got rid of the obstacles for him without even knowing it. And in turn Luffy comes to live with him.

The only problem now was how to alert Dragon to his son's whereabouts without implicating himself. It was doubtful another opportunity would arise like the previous one. So he was going to have to get creative with his methods. That sounded like a fun challenge. Fresh ideas swirling around his mind he once again retreated to the forest.

 **Yea so! I don't know if anyone noticed or not but Luffy has been staring at Ussop ever since they first met. He was also strangely obsessed with Ussops gun. That's because he recognized it as Yassops. Thank you so much or reading! Please comment and tell me if you liked the chapter or not. It was kind of anticlimactic but we got the typical red riding hood stuff in.**

 **Guest: Lol, thank you! I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought it was funny. The vampires were actually ordered to go after the humans, Luffy was just an obstacle to them. Althoug I'm sure Ace and Sabo have a reputation in the forest I'm not sure if its enough to keep Luffy safe at all times. Especially if their on orders. Poor Sabo :.( He's so neglected. We will be seeing more of his soon. When the group heads back home Sabo is going to show up and save the day.**

 **Lostdog200: Lol sorry. Law isn't the stalker but I mean… He is still kind of a stalker. He follows Luffy around and makes his life tougher. I hope you liked the chapter!**

 **PipeDream: Thank you! Hopefully both the monster Trio and Commander Trio will continue to strengthen. I am trying to slowly introduce as many f the SH as I can without crowding them. Thank you so much**

 **EmeraldEyed: Thank you!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Happy tenth-ah-versary!**

 **Exciting news! Thanks to Amy we reached 100 reviews! Yay!**

 **Sorry I missed last update (I try to do every other sat/sun). It was prom weekend so naturally I blew it off to go to an anime convention. I saw Fem Luffy and Sabo** **and I flirted with Naruto which was pretty enjoyable. Those con folk sure know how to party. I'll update next Saturday to make up for it! Anyway this is Luffy's flashback chapter because I need it for chapter 11. Despite this it doesn't really focused on Luffy as much as Ace. But Sabo and Ace will get their own flashback scenes soon I promise** **Sabo's is either next chapter or the one after that.**

 **.**

 **(This takes place a few months after Luffy started living with Ace and Sabo.)**

"What do we do?" Ace asked shaking Sabo's arm in panic.

"Try to calm down." Sabo said as he tried to push Ace off. "It's just the flu."

Ace tilted his head curiously. "What's that?"

"It's something humans get sometimes." Sensing Ace's still confused face he continued.

"It's caused by a virus passed on from person to person. It enters the body through physical contact or infected air through the mouth, nose or eyes. Once inside the body immediately puts up its own natural defense which leads to fever, vomiting, coughing…."

Ace held up his hand to stop the spew of information. "And you know this how?"

Sabo frowned frustrated as he held up the giant book in his hands. "Grey's Anatomy by Henry Grey." A small stack of other medical textbooks were pushed to the side.

"So what do we do?"

Sabo shrugged setting the book down. "There's not much we can do. The body will fight it off on its own." He stood up crossing the room to where the seven year old lay. He put his cold hand on his forehead checking his temperature.

"What, are you a doctor now?" Ace asked crossing the room to sit beside Sabo on the bed.

"Hardly but you have to admit we are pretty ill equipped to deal with humans."

"It's not our fault they are so fragile." Ace pointed out. For the hundredth time since he met Luffy he couldn't help but wonder how the human race was still alive. They were weak delicate creatures without the natural advantages that vampires and wolves had. Their natural strength was laughable, as was their speed and sense of smell and hearing. They supposedly made up for their physical shortcomings with mental power but Ace had yet to see proof of this. Yet for whatever reason they still seemed to think they were the dominate race.

He watched as Sabo grappled with Luffy trying to get him to drink something. The sick boy weakly tried to push his hand away.

"Quit being difficult Luffy."

"What is it anyways?"

"Apple juice." Sabo said sighing in defeat.

"So what? Apple juice is the cure?" Ace asked his eyes narrowing in disbelief.

"No but it definitely helps." He handed the glass to Ace. "Go nuts."

"What?" Ace cried in alarm, "What do you want me to do."

"Try and make him drink it, "Sabo supplied unhelpfully as he stood up.

"How?" Ace asked as he looked down at the kid. For someone so sick he sure was good at squirming. If Sabo couldn't make him drink it then there was no way Ace could. Usually Luffy jumped at the prospect of food but from the way he had just thrown up Ace honesty couldn't blame him for being hesitant. His cheeks were flushed which, according to Sabo, was part of his fever. That would explain the glassy look in his eyes.

"Try something."

"Like pinching his nose and waiting for him to run out of air?"

"Try something else!" Sabo insisted firmly as he made his way downstairs to go make soup.

Ace frowned turning back to the task at hand. He knelt over Luffy, putting a knees on either side of him as he forced him to open his mouth. Unceremoniously dumping the juice down his throat. He covered his mouth before Luffy could even think of spitting it back up. Only when he was sure he swallowed it did Ace finally let go, sitting back carefully.

"See that wasn't so hard."

Completely ignoring him Luffy tensed, pushing himself up on trembling elbows. He weakly leaned over the side of the bed. Ace winced as he watched all his hard work splatter across the floor, missing the designated bucket. Oops. He crinkled his nose in disgust. Did humans really have to deal with this?

He turned to see Sabo remerged in the room. "I got him to drink it all but he threw up anyway"

"Small sips!" Sabo said exasperated as he looked at the mess. "You weren't supposed to give it to him all at once."

"Well maybe you should have been more specific. Although yea... this one is probably my bad." Lucky enough for him there was a very small chance of Luffy remembering this anyways, he looked pretty out of it.

"Your bedside manner is terrible." Sabo said dryly. He once again sat down on the bed, using his sleeve to wipe the little kids face dry.

Ace had to admit Sabo did have a bit of a knack for this, at least more so then him. He had the patience of a saint plus a heart full of empathy. But after watching Luffy part with his stomach contents even Ace was beginning to feel sympathetic. And to be honest it was a bit of a new feeling.

Sabo settled back against the head board letting Luffy snuggle into his side soaking up the cool of his skin in contrast to the kids fever.

Ace sighed with defeat as he leaned back, "Admit it! I suck at this. At this rate I'm probably going to kill him by accident." Humans were so fragile. It would be all too easy to grab his wrist and end up breaking it by accident.

Sabo frowned as he put a comforting hand on Luffy's tiny shoulder. "Don't talk like that! You'll get better. Give it time Ace."

"Yea right!" He sighed as he joined the two of them, settling down on Luffy's other side. Concern grew as he felt the tiny kid shivering despite how warm he was.

"Is that normal?"

Sabo shrugged, "probably not but I really don't know."

Ace frowned as he tried to dismiss the fear. Sabo said the flu was normal right? Still this looked pretty serious to be normal. But what could he do about it? If there was one thing Ace hated it was feeling useless. He glanced over at Sabo noting how tired the boy looked. Maybe they all just needed a good long rest.

For the most part his dreams were haunted. He could seek no refuge from his memories or his fears when asleep. They relentlessly plagued him. His darkest thoughts seeked him out in his dreams turning even the most harmless of things into vivid nightmares. It had gotten so bad as of late he had tried to stop sleeping altogether, anything to make it stop. He often wondered if Sabo felt the same way. Luffy definitely not, his fears seemed to leak out a different way. A louder and violent way. Sabo on the other hand was harder to read, more close off. Then again he was practically an insomniac so probably.

But when he wasn't alone he always found it a little easier to breath. Like a weight lifting off his chest. Suddenly the dark didn't seem so empty. Hearing the other two breath besides him was a comfort.

He closed his eyes, letting go of the fear and worry if only temporarily. Focusing only on the warmth besides him and how truly tired he was. Sure enough it seemed to do the trick as he fell into a dreamless sleep.

He was so exhausted he hardly noticed as the weight beside him shifted, then vanished. Sabo apparently didn't noticed either as the two of them continued to sleep.

Ace woke up much later to the realization Luffy was gone. It was quite late into the night already and pitch black outside. He shook Sabo's shoulder trying to stay patient as he waited for the other boy to wake up.

"What is it?' He asked yawning tiredly.

"Luffy's gone."

Sabo sat up immediately, "wait when?"

Ace could only shrug, the two of them must have been tired in deed if they didn't wake up. "You check upstairs I will go look in the living room."

Sure enough the kid was nowhere to be found. The living room looked untouched, not so much as a pillow out of place, as was the kitchen. Talk about a little escape artist. Ace glanced at the door nervously. He hoped Luffy wasn't having another one of his nightmares. It would be disastrous if he was running around the dark woods right now.

"He's not upstairs." Sabo said coming to stand besides Ace.

Ace frowned as he looked around, he sniffed the air trying to catch a scent. The only problem were there were a billion scents, Luffy lived here after all. And with him sick like this it was hard to tell which one was freshest. From the corner of his eyes he caught the table cloth move ever so slightly.

He grabbed Sabo's arm, dragging him over to the table. The two of them lifted the cloth from one side relived to see a tiny ball huddled there.

"Luffy? What are you doing?"

The tiny kid was fast asleep on his side, he was clutching his knees tightly to his chest.

Ace threw a questioning glance at Sabo who just shrugged. He watched as the blond crawled under the table pulling Luffy out from underneath.

He let out a small moan kicking weakly against Sabo as he was pulled out. "Noooo," he whined trying to free himself.

"Another nightmare?"

Sabo gritted his teeth as he felt Luffy's forehead. "Worse, he has a fever." Sabo let him go only for him to crawl back under the table.

"What do we do?" Ace asked as he got down on his hands and knees to be eyelevel with Luffy.

Sabo shrugged. How was he supposed to know? "Read some psychology books?"

Ace rolled his eyes, "You get right on that. In the mean time I'll go get some blankets."

It looked liked the three of them were camping under the table tonight."

He really didn't understand humans at all. Even though something told him this was more of a Luffy thing than anything else.

Maybe Sabo as right? We will get better at this. Or maybe someone would publish a book. A 'How to take care of your human' encyclopedia. Whichever came first, although at the rate things were going between races Ace really wasn't holding his breath. He ruffled the tiny human's hair before getting up to go get their blankets.

 **.**

 **(Present day)**

Sabo groaned at the insistent knocking downstairs. He glanced outside to see sunlight streaming through the windows. Who the heck was up at this hour anyways? He pushed himself out of bed and down the stairs to investigate. Someone was knocking insistently on the door and there was only one person he knew who did that.

"What a pleasant surprise." He said dryly as he opened the door to see Law complete with his usual smirk.

"You look terrible." Law supplied unhelpfully. "Bachler life has not been kind to you."

"What do you want? It's the middle of the day."

"What I can't pop by for a visit? How else are you going to stay connected to the vampire world without me?" Law's voice was full of false hurt.

"I'm not! That was sort of the entire point of me leaving." Sabo said as he crossed his arms over his chest leaning against the door frame. "And since when do you just pop by?"

Law simply shrugged, "What? There's a first time or everything. Besides it's not like you have anything else to do. Are you going to invite me inside or not?"

Sabo frowned chewing his lip as he considered. It wasn't like Law hadn't already been invited inside before so there was no harm there. Once upon a time the two of them had been… acquaintances? That was a bit of a strong word. But they had been on friendly terms at one point in time. Of course a lot of things had happened since then. Namely the death of Law's family. Then again he couldn't see anyway that Law could use this visit to somehow hurt them. Sabo was growing increasingly worried about him as of late. Mainly the way he had been harassing his brothers. This behavior was still relatively new and was a surprise to Sabo as he didn't think Law capable of the crazed dictator behavior he had been exhibiting. So for those reasons alone he was very tempted to slam the door in Laws face.

Still on the other hand maybe it was a bad idea to ignore him if he was reaching out. If there was a way to get Law to stop acting so crazy then Sabo should probably take it. Besides neither Ace nor Luffy were home right now so no danger there. And like Law said he was quite bored.

"Don't do anything weird to Luffy's stuff ok?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"Then won't you come in?" Sabo said sarcastically swinging the door open wider.

"I thought you would never ask," Law smirked.

Law sat down at the kitchen table as Sabo poured him some tea. Tiredly sinking down in the seat across from him.

"You look worn down."

"So you've said," Sabo said resting his head on his hands tiredly.

There was a few seconds of silence between the two of them before he once again spoke. "Do you really hate being alone so much?"

"Shut up."

Ignoring the weak insult Law just shrugged, "You get used to it you know. Give it time."

"I don't want to get used to it," Sabo said with a yawn.

"Well considering Luffy's future murder attempt on Ace you might want to practice. It's not so bad anymore."

"If this is what you came to talk about I am going back to bed." Sabo threatened, glaring at Law. That was about the last thing he felt like discussing over tea.

Law raised his arms in surrender, "Fine, fine. Want to talk about your bad eating habits? Honestly when was the last time you had a good meal?"

"What are you now? My mother."

He watched with vague interest as Law walked over to the fridge inspecting the inside carefully. He rummaged around until he found the blood jar. "What is this? It smells strange?"

"You tell me." Sabo said once again resting his head on the table tiredly.

Law shrugged taking a cautious sip. "Definitely rabbit blood, a hint of bear, some human, a different human and some more human." He made a face, "This is disgusting. No wonder you look so thin."

"That cannot be what you came over for. And if you hate it so much why do you keep drinking it?"

Law shrugged taking another sip, "Luffy's blood is in here as well isn't it! Hard to pass up the opportunity."

"You said you weren't going to do anything weird!" Sabo accused angrily as he snatched the jar away from Law.

"How was I supposed to know? Just a happy coincidence."

"Sure," Sabo said sitting back down at the table sending a glare at Law. He was considering just kicking him out and saving himself the trouble. This clearly was not going anywhere. His hopes of talking some sense into Law were quickly vanishing.

Law sighed and sat down across from Sabo, suddenly serious. "I want to know what you will do if war breaks out between the humans and the forest?"

Sabo frowned as he traced the pattern on the table, in all honesty he was trying not to think about it.

"Probably just stay out of it." He had learned long ago the futility of fighting fights that weren't yours.

Law laughed at that, "Seeing as you live in the forest I have a hard time imagining that. Besides if you're so neutral then why are Ace and Luffy helping the humans right now?"

"That's Luffy not Ace." Sabo said annoyed by Law's seemingly endless source of knowledge. This guy had eyes everywhere.

"So Luffy's siding with the humans then?"

"He helps everyone," Sabo said gritting his teeth. "It's just who he is." Laws extensive knowledge somehow did not seem to extend to acts of kindness. Thus why he had a hard time understanding Luffy.

"So you really think he is just going to stay out of it as well then?"

No, probably not. Sabo sighed as he looked up at the man. "I don't know what will happen if the races go to war. But if there is anything I can do to prevent it then I will. That's a promise."

Law's eyes glinted dangerously. "Is that a threat?"

"I don't see what else it could be," Sabo said.

"Those are some big words from a neutral party."

He rolled his eyes, "like your one to talk? You're the one who keeps pushing for the species to fight." You know the Wolf and vampire treaty isn't going to hold right? The second the humans are gone you two will be at each other's throats."

"I fail to see how that's my problem," Law argued.

"Well for starters it's the destruction of your race."

"Your's too." Law reminded him.

Sabo made a face. He hated the thought. But yea… they were technically his race. Yet his loyalty towards them left much to be desired. If leaving Law to his plot meant the destruction of the vampire nobles then he would have no problem with it. In fact he might even help. But considering this would affect everyone, his pack included, he couldn't just let it go.

The two of them lapsed into silence, both deep in thought.

"The vampires are after the humans." Law finally said.

"What?"

"Doflamingo ordered the vampires to go after the humans intruders. Thought you would want to know."

Sabo stared at him in surprise. That was unexpected. Since when was Law helpful. Still yea, they probably did need his help on this one. No one knew vampire politics like Sabo did, as much as he hated to admit it.

"Thanks." He said finally.

Law just shrugged, "Don't mention it."

Maybe there was hope for him yet.

 **.**

"I told you she would like it!" Luffy said happily.

"Definitely surprised me." Sanji said crossing his arms, clearly miffed at being pushed from the kitchen.

"Who would have guessed?" Marco said as they watched Usopp's Gran use her brand new toaster. Turns out she is a bit of a spider man enthusiast. So much so that she insisted on making dinner. Which of course consisted solely of toast.

"I still don't get it?" Ace said. "Who needs something that burns their food for them? And what's the big deal about a man who is also a spider. Is it supposed to be ironic?"

"It's not irony it's awesome!" Thatch insisted as he tried to hand Ace a piece of toast. "We can't take you anywhere."

Ace pushed the toast away in mild disgust. "If you wanted burnt food you could have had Luffy cook for you."

"Can I!" He asked hopefully, only to be shot down by the room's occupants. Even without knowing the kid for very long it was easy to see he would be a mess in the kitchen.

"He's a superhero." Usopp told Ace as he reached for another piece of toast. "As in he saves people's lives and beats up the bad guys."

"So if he is so awesome what is he doing on toast?"

The teens fell silent at that. As much as they would like to protest he got them there. Apparently spider man didn't have much business being on a piece of toast. The stuff he said about toasters was even starting to make sense.

"You really shouldn't be out of bed yet Gran-Gran." Usopp said as they watched her put yet another plate of toast in front of them.

"Oh hush, have some more toast."

"No more toast please." Zoro whined as he handed it to Luffy. Everyone was a little too afraid to point out that she was going overboard.

"You younglings really leaving tomorrow?" The old woman questioned.

"The village is probably getting worried about us." Marco said. A grin appeared on his face, "But maybe Mr. Toast hater and co will keep you company." Marco's smile broadened as the teen sent him a look.

"As much as we would love to we have to get back to our brother," The wolf teen explained as he rested his chin on Luffy's head.

"Isn't he worried you guys just up and disappeared?" Usopp questioned curiously.

Ace shrugged, looking down at his little brother. "We left him a note."

"We did?" Luffy asked surprised.

Ace nodded, "At least I did. But he will get worried if we are not back soon." He looked apologetically at Usopp's gran. "Sorry."

She nodded, uncharacteristically understanding. "Of course." There was a few moments of peaceful silence before she once again continued. "I'll make some toast for the road. You lot are all too skinny."

Luffy cheered at the concept as the rest of the teens groaned.

 **.**

 **Ok so I want to clarify a little why Sabo let Law into their house. Sabo and Law were once sort of friends-both being vampires and all. But then Law's family died, Sabo ran away, Luffy started living with them and Law started acting weird about Luffy so Sabo and Ace pushed him away. But on some level Sabo still is concerned about Law and feels bad for him and all he's gone through. He also knows why he is obsessed with Luffy (but he keeps it to himself). He also strongly wants to stop Law before things really get out of hand and he does something he can't take back. So in short he feels for Law and wants to help him but he can't stand him threatening his family so he is trying to derail the situation.**

 **Guest#1: Lol I don't think can handle zombie pirates.**

 **pipeDream: Haha lol that would have been great. I hadn't thought of that. I'm still trying to find a way to introduce chopper and I think I finally have it! But that would have been priceless**

 **Lostgod200: Savory or sweet in terms of food? I would definitely have to go with sweet I think I might have a problem** **, what about you? I'm really glad you like this story! Thank you for reminding me it was Luffy's birthday, I had forgotten.**

 **Amy: No! You totally were the 100** **th** **review. Thanks you so much for that. If no body reviewed for the hundredth I was going to do it (which would be a little sad) but I would have been all 'Guys look! It has a hundred reviews!' So thank you** **I am so happy you like my story! Hopefully you will like this chapter as well.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys. Sorry about the late update. Since graduating my life has been unbelievably hectic.** **If you read Defenders without fear you will know I got a job at a summer camp for the summer. It's a lot of fun but it unfortunately means I have no free time. Since I live there 24/7 it's kind of hard to get internet access. The only way I'm able to update now is because I caught the flu that was going around. So anyway super-duper sorry. Come mid-august when I go off to collage I will start updating regularly again.**

 **XXX**

 **One year ago**

"Luffy! I swear to god asking if we're there yet every five seconds does not make the time go by any faster." Sabo told him rolling his eyes.

Ace growled in agreement as Luffy collapsed dramatically on his back.

The three of them were currently making their way to the outskirts of the Forrest. They had let the youngest run around a bit more to keep him entertained. But when he got lost for the fifth time they confined him to riding with Ace on the young wolfs back. This worked for about a minute until he started relentlessly asking if they were there yet. Which they obviously weren't.

Many of the wolves who roamed the outskirts had reported seeing a monster at the edge of the forest. This of course sounded pretty stupid coming from real life monsters. Still there were far too many witnesses to simply write it off. Thus the services of the three of them had been requested. The last thing Sabo and Ace wanted to be known for was being helpful to others. In fact most of their energy went into purposefully avoiding the rest of the forests occupants. However the circumstances were less than ideal. Not even a week ago had Ace accidently burned down an entire acre. His pyromaniac tendencies were really starting to become a problem. That coupled with all of Luffy's… accident prone behaviors ensured they would say yes. In short there wasn't much of a choice involved.

"We're getting close to the area most of the reports came from." Sabo told his brothers, looking down at the hasty map he constructed. It all seemed to center around the edge of the outskirt territory.

"What are we even looking for again?" Luffy asked distractedly staring over his shoulder.

Sabo shrugged, "I'm not really sure. Something unusually tall, humanoid …."

"With a hat?" Luffy asked curiously.

"I guess… maybe, they didn't say."

Luffy however continued relentlessly. "Covered in fur, sort of like bigfoot?"

Ace gave an annoyed growl as Sabo frowned, "Where on earth are you getting this from?"

Luffy simply pointed behind them off the beaten path. Sure enough half hidden by the shadows stood a huge furry creature quite resembling big foot. It stared out at them from under a pink top hat.

"There is it is Sabo!"

"Yes I can see that."

Not waiting for further confirmation Luffy jumped off Ace's back, grabbing the bat in his haste. Sensing the sudden urgency the creature took off, clearly spooked by the three of them.

Ace was about to give chase when Sabo stopped him. "Let Luffy do it. There's something I want to check out."

Ace gave a snort asking if Luffy would really be okay on his own.

"Probably, hopefully, knowing his luck he will probably befriend the thing and take it home as a pet."

Ace gave a series of soft gruffs signifying laughter as he followed Sabo through the dense trees. After a few minutes of walking he began to grow curious of what they were doing.

"I have a theory?" Sabo told him ducking under a low tree branch. "What would you do if you were a hideous monster? Stay away from people right? But it's clear from this things behavior it's trying to stay away from the creatures of the forest as well. Thus why it lives in no name territory.

Ace let out a low growl clearly asking 'so what?'

"Well it's obviously been discovered countless times. So why wouldn't it just leave? What's keeping it here?" He smirked over at his brother. "Don't give me that look, I do think I've got a pretty good idea of why."

Ace just gave the wolf equivalent of a shrug and kept walking. This was certainly turning out to be an interesting night.

 **XXX**

"Stop! I want to eat you!" Luffy yelled as he crashed through the forest behind the creature. He wielded the dented bat over his head like a club.

To his extreme surprise the creature slowed for a minute, turning to look back at him. "No way you jerk. I'm not going to let you eat me."

Luffy pursed his lip in annoyance. Usually his meals didn't put up this much struggle.

"Why not?" He pried.

"How would you feel if someone tried to eat you?"

"I wouldn't let them."

"Exactly!" Cried the creature frazzled as it tried to gain speed.

"Wait!" Luffy insisted as he lept over a fallen tree trunk. "Are you a scary monster?"

"What?"

"Well we came looking for you because you scared all the wolves who saw you. But that's pretty lame… I mean you don't look so scary to me. If you're really trying to scare them then you should try harder."

That actually stopped the creature in its tracks as it stared at the kid, finally slowing down enough to notice something it missed before. It sniffed the air tentatively. Its eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait! You're a human?"

Luffy nodded, cutting his rant off early.

"And your not scared by me?"

That seemed to hit home as he crossed his arms over his chest angrily. "I told you if you want to be scary you have to try harder. Why would I be scared of bigfoot?"

That seemed to do it for the monster as well as it screamed, "I'm not Bigfoot you asshole."

"So what are you then?"

The monster looked down at the ground, kicking dirt around depressingly. He didn't speak for a while before finally meeting the kid's eyes. "I'm a monster."

To his surprise the kid's face turned into a wide smile at the confession. "That's more like it. Now you just need to work on being scarier."

"I thought you were going to eat me?"

Luffy shrugged dismissively. "We can do that later."

The creature shook his head, looking around suddenly worried. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what? Don't try to get out of getting eaten." He threatened.

"It's not that." The creature told him. "I think somethings coming this way."

"And you're worried you're not scary enough?" Luffy questioned.

"No! You should be worried what are you even doing here, it's dangerous in these woods." He bounded back over to the tiny human closing the gap between them.

"I was looking for you monster." Luffy told him sizing up the creature before him.

"It's Chopper! Stop calling me monster."

Luffy grinned at that as he uncrossed his arms, once again slinging the bat over his shoulder. "Well I'm Luffy, want to be friends?"

"W-what?" The monster stuttered. "I can't be friends with you! You're a human! Do you have any idea how bad that would be? You need to get out of here before you get eaten or something."

"That's your job." Luffy reminded him.

"Your still going to eat me?" Chopper deadpanned.

"Of course not stupid we're friends." Luffy laughed.

 **XXX**

"See there it is! I knew it would be here." Sabo smiled triumphantly as they knocked on the door. It was so run down it looked like it was about to fall over. This made their house look much nicer by comparison.

He and Ace shared a look as not a sound came from inside. "Do you think anyone even lives here?"

Before Ace could say anything shots rang out, cutting through the wood like it was butter. It was quickly accompanied by the shout of "No trespassers."

He frowned as the wolf ducked behind the wall as another round of bullets sprayed through the door.

"Ma'am?" He called politely turning away from the wreckage. There was a moment of pause before the door flung open, kicked clean off its hinges by a black boot. An old woman greeted them in a purple suit.

"Who the hell are you?" She questioned leaning heavily against the door frame.

"I'm Sabo and this is my brother Ace," Sabo said politely. "We were just wondering if this was the residence of the … er Bigfoot."

To their surprise she tossed her head back and laughed. "Ya mean Chopper? Yea he lives here what about it?"

She studied them for a second before continuing more seriously. "You got a problem with him."

Ace let out a partial growl as he sat down on his hind legs. Sabo smirked at his brother's humor. To their surprise the woman seemed to understand as well.

"Say what you want sunny, at least my boy doesn't terrorize people."

"Well that's actually why we're here." Sabo said politely. "Apparently seeing …Chopper, has made some of the wolves uncomfortable. They don't really know what to think." Of course that being said it was some of the weaker wolves that had actually seen Chopper. But rumors seemed to spread like a wildfire in these woods and by the time they actually caught up three imaginary victims had been lost to the creature. The three of them had been assured it was the work of the hunters out to destroy the forest.

She stared at them for a second before tossing her head back and laughing, "Is that so? Well then, what shall we do about this?"

"Actually," Sabo said looking at his brother with a small smile. "We might have an answer for that?... Where is Chopper by the way?"

The old woman shrugged, "How should I know? Probably off getting into trouble."

At the word trouble both Sabo and Ace perked up. That definitely couldn't be good. Sabo had forgotten where they last saw their brother. They really needed to watch him better. Oops.

He was about to suggest finding Chopper for her but there was no need.

A moment later the furry brown creature came barring through the door, a familiar figure on its back. It was shouting something unintelligible. The only words Sabo could catch were Wolves and fight.

The woman put up her hand to silence the jabbering Wookie effectively calming him.

"Tell me what happened Chopper?"

"We ran into some wolves in the forest, they tried to eat us and…" It was at that time he finally took notice of Ace, jumping back with another cry of fear.

"One followed us here! Get it Luffy!"

The tiny figure on its back laughed. "That's just Ace." He explained simply, sliding back down to the ground.

"What's an Ace?"

"It's that." Luffy said pointing to the glaring wolf.

"Who's your friend Chopper?" The woman asked taking a swig of a beer bottle from the table.

There was an audible pop as the giant Monster disappeared, changing into a much smaller version right before their eyes. The muscular humanoid monster had given way to a koala raccoon type creature. The pink hat still rested on its head, much more suitable in terms of size. It retained its antlers as well, as they poked through the hat like tree branches. Unlike everyone else in the room Chopper seemed unsurprised by his body's sudden change. He continued on like nothing had happened.

"This is Luffy!" He told her. "We ran into some wolves and he fought them off."

Completely ignoring that Luffy stared at Chopper in shock. "You got really small! I thought you were a monster? You look more like a toy to me."

Chopper turned a bright red at the comment ."I'm not a toy! I'm a reindeer."

"Isn't it a little past your bedtime kid?" The woman said taking another swig from the bottle. "How did you even get so far from a human village?"

"Actually he's with us," Sabo interjected. Up until then he had been carefully monitoring the conversation. He was honestly a little curious about the old lady. Despite her old age she was obviously human as well. Which explained why she lived on the outskirts instead of in the actual forest. Undoubtedly she could take care of herself but wouldn't a human village be easier for her.

She eyed the two of them carefully, almost as if seeing things in a new light. Still she curiously choose not to say anything on the matter.

"So Chopper, the human kid saved you from the wolves then?"

Chopper nodded, still blushing as if getting saved by a human was an embarrassing feat.

The woman nodded uncrossing her arms. "Well you three have my thanks. The names Kureha, I suppose you're curious about Chopper here."

"It did cross my mind." Sabo said dryly.

She nodded seriously, "Very well, I shall tell you. As a token of my gratitude."

Luffy made face. It sounded boring to him more than anything. Why should he care what Chopper was. It always confused him why people were so stuck up with labels. He cast a sideways look at the reindeer silently asking if there was anything more entertaining to do. Sabo was only interested because he liked boring stuff and Ace was just going to fall asleep five minutes into the story. Luckily enough for him Chopper was thinking similar thoughts.

For his part Sabo looked up in time to see the tiny animal and his brother pull a not so impressive disappearing act. Kureha noticed as well but she choose not to say anything.

Thus the doctor told the two of them (until Ace fell asleep) the story of the little reindeer named Chopper. Like most things in life it wasn't a happy story. Instead it was filled with rejection and betrayal… and in this case mal practice. From what he could gather Chopper was the accidental product of a test gone wrong. While trying to experiment with the werewolf gene a group of rouge scientist injected it into a reindeer. The result was a human deer hybrid utterly rejected by its own kind.

Thus after hearing that, plus a little guilt tripping Sabo was sure of a way to keep the wolves out of these part. Although it was doubtful Ace was going to go for it. And it would come with quite a blow to their pride. Still it was the least they could do to help the unlucky critter and the drunken doctor.

"Leave it to us," He promised putting his top hat back on. Kureha nodded adding her own small tolken of thanks as she threw the now empty beer bottle.

Now only to find their little brother, the sun would be rising soon. He hadn't realized how much time had slipped by. He woke up the sleeping wolf to help with the search.

It turns out they didn't have to go far. Both Chopper and Luffy were playing in the yard. Each trying to outdo each other by climbing trees. If their little brother weren't part monkey Sabo would swear the giant king Kong type creature had the advantage. But Luffy was definitely holding his own here.

"Come on Lu we're leaving." He called to them.

Luffy looked over instantly, letting go of the branch he was currently hanging on.

Chopper took the news a bit harder as he let out a disappointed moan. "Do you really have to go?"

Sure leave it to their brother to befriend the monster they were sent to slay. Sabo smirked at the notion.

"I'll see you some other time okay," Luffy told him as he steadied himself on the ground.

"You promise," Chopper said uncertainly.

"Pinkie promise." Luffy told him offering him his finger.

Chopper copied the gesture confused. "What does that mean?"

He wrapped his tiny pinky over the huge one. "It's the most sacred of vows." He explained. "You can't break it."

Chopper looked over at Sabo and Ace for confirmation, the two of them just shrugged back. Definitely a human concept. When wolves and vampires made promises they sure as hell didn't do it with their pinkies.

See you soon." Luffy told him as he raced off to join his brothers. Leaving the poor creature alone, it's pinkie still extended. But at the very least Chopper had his first friend now. A fact he was going to remember.

 **XXX**

 **Present Day**

Marco sighed as he reluctantly handed the keys to Zoro. As much as he hated to admit it the other was probably better suited for combat driving. And god know they would need the advantage. He looked up at the pitch black sky, the sun wouldn't rise for quite some time. It was the perfect time to begin their journey back. Hopefully sticking to the roads would keep them safe from the hoard that was trailing them. Still avoiding the forest meant a longer trek. Doubtful the road alone would keep them safe.

He looked over to where the wolf stood, looking at the forest with longing.

"You're sure you want to come with us?"

Ace looked over at him, a smirk forming as he did so. "To stop you guys from getting killed." He corrected.

"Either or." Marco said a small smile forming on his lips.

When he had first met Ace he was a little… intimidated. Who wouldn't be? He seemed to have a built in dislike of everyone and he growled if you got too close. Those feelings turned into curiosity as he learned he was a wolf. During the short time they spent together he realized he may have been a little off in his previous judgment. Ace was quick tempered and unfriendly, no doubt about that. But he was also loyal, protective and good spirited. Thus why he was accompanying them on their trip back instead of simply leaving them here.

His brother, who from what Marco gathered really was just a normal kid, sat on the ground carving crossbow arrows.

"Ready?" He addressed the group.

"Once the shitty Marino gives me the keys," Sanji said angrily trying a final ditch attempt to grab them from the swordsman.

"It' such a n-nice village." Ussop stuttered nervously. "Why don't we just live here?"

"I am not eating toast for the rest of my life," Thatch butted in.

Marco just rolled his eyes, why he choose to associate with these people was beyond him. He turned to the old jeep, calling shotgun before anyone had a chance to argue farther. Like most of the cool stuff in Ussop's Grandmothers house it once belonged to her son. She had given it to them so they could find their way home.

Marco slammed the door behind him, ignoring the grumbling of the teens as they all squeezed in the backseat. Hopefully if all went well Ace would be able to spot any approaching threats. With his creepy glowing eyes that was.

"Do you think they're still after us?" Ussop asked, his voice once again cracking.

Ace looked at Luffy before turning back to them to shrug. "Who knows? I would say no but you have no idea how stubborn he can be."

"Do I even want to know who he is?"

"If all goes well you never will need to." Ace pointed out as he stared absentmindedly out the window. Despite the car going nearly eighty miles per hour he looked bored.

The tiny car fell into silence as it sped along the highway. The edge of the forest was to their right and nothing but dark fields on the left, not exactly a pleasant view. Everyone was tense, lost in their own thoughts. With the exception of the two forest dwellers that was. Ace just looked bored and Marco seriously doubted Luffy knew what scared meant.

It was Thatch who finally broke the silence with another question. "So if it's such a well-known fact Vampires exist why don't the villagers know?"

To their surprise it was Sanji who answered. Working at a shady bar he was well versed in such matters.

"For the most part they would rather not invite panic over it. People are freaked out enough over the existence of wolves. The last thing they need is another monster to worry about."

"Plus there's no survivors from a vampire attack." Luffy said absently, surprising the car's occupants.

"What was that?"

"Well when there's a wolf attack survivor everyone hears about it. But Vampires usually don't leave survivors."

"But there must be at least some right?" Ussop challenged. "They can't be perfect all the time."

"Uh-huh," Luffy said lazily looking out the window. "But by the time authorities are done with them they are convinced it was just another wolf attack. They don't want people to know about it so they usually just lie."

"How do you even know that?"

Luffy just shrugged, turning back to his carving. There were a few moments of silence before Ace broke it. Surprising everyone he suddenly sat up, leaning over Thatch to point at the muted radio.

"I know this song!"

Marco turned up the radio to a level human ears could pick up. Considering they were in the forest it was a miracle they got any reception at all. This one however was surprisingly strong. It still broke up at times and the back round was fuzzy but they could all hear the lyrics with little difficulty. Still Ace sounded so uncharacteristically excited it made him smile.

"It's Let It Be," Marco said a fond smile of his own. It had been a while since he heard this song. His father had insisted he grew up listening to the classics.

"Everyone knows this song," Thatch explained. "The Beatles are legendary."

Ace leaned forward, unaffected by the information. He seemed oddly content to just listen to the words.

"Where did you hear it?" Luffy asked stowing his knife back in his boot.

"My mom used to sing it to me." Ace said, catching the teenagers by surprise. He continued on obliviously. "She would always forget the words though."

Marco was honestly a little surprised by Ace's sudden willingness to share personal info. He was sure it wouldn't last long, no doubt the result of the nostalgia from the song rubbing off on the rest of them. Still it was a nice gesture.

Before he could think of what to say in reply Ace had stopped listening. Instead he had crawled into the trunk with his brother. The same board expression was directed out the back window.

"You might want to drive a little faster?" He suggested casually.

"Why's that?" Zoro asked already speeding up.

But the question came too late. The trunk was opened with a loud thunk as the two of them slipped out, onto the run down road.

"Any suggestions? Thatch asked, jumping to close the trunk.

"Drive faster stupid moss head," Sanji said kicking the back of Zoro's seat angrily.

"No duh idiot." Zoro retorted not losing a second.

"What do you think it is?" Ussop asked, once again sounding terrified.

"Whatever it is hopefully the two of them can handle it." Marco said loading his own weapon.

…

 **Sorry again for the wait. Hopefully next chapter will come sooner, my job is just two more weeks. For whatever reason I had a hard time writing this chapter I kept writing then erasing it. So it is quite poorly written but I hope it's worse in my head. Things are definitely starting to heat up with a confrontation between the group and Doflamingo on its way. Plus Sabo is coming back into the story soon after being neglected for like five chapters. And we got to meet Chopper. He will be making a reappearance soon. Just a few more straw hats and we will have a full set! Please tell me what you think! I'll try to update as soon as possible.**


	12. Chapter 12

**I really am sorry how infrequently I was able to update. Life really beat me up this summer. From now on though I should be able to update regularly again. In return this chapter is on the longer side. I have been waiting to write this since they first left for Usopps grandmother's house! The ASL will finally be reunited thanks to Law. Yay! Also in other news I have finally started to write the ASL story I have been threatening to for years. In which the straw hats go back in time and accidently enlist the help of ASL kids. It will only be five chapters but each chapter should be super long. So far it's pretty adorable to write. I am almost done with chapter two! I'll start posting it when I'm done with Dolls. I'm really looking forward to it. Thanks for patiently sticking with me for the summer**

 **XXX**

So this could definitely have gone better. Maybe they should have taken Usopp's idea and just stayed in the village for the rest of their lives. Eating Spiderman toast for all eternity.

In an interesting turn of events it wasn't actually Usopps fault this time. More of a group effort type deal. Marco glanced around the room seeing way too many vampires for comfort. Their weapons had been taken away hours ago leaving them pretty defenseless. To be fair these vampires were pretty determined and that thought would comfort him while they sucked him dry and dropped his cold body somewhere.

Ace's advice had not been taken lightly to say the least. Still it had not been enough to avoid the swarm and get taken hostage. The bright side was thanks to the vampire's speed they were much closer to home. The bad news was that there was a huge chance they were all going to die here. Despite the skill of the group the sheer number of vampires ensured that they stood no chance. So here they all awkwardly stood, in the foyer of one of the largest rooms Marco had ever seen. The ceiling was over fifty feet high and intimidating stone statues were seemingly holding the roof up. Was this really where vampires lived? He wasn't expecting them to live in a nice little sunny cottage or anything. But this was…overkill.

He looked up as the vampires stiffened, signifying something was about to happen. Sure enough a few moments later the doors flew open revealing a flamboyantly dressed blonde man. He fixed the teens with a dark glare like they had personally wronged him in the past.

"So glad you could join us," His voice held a certain low quality that screamed danger.

None of the teenagers said anything letting an awkward silence fill the vast room.

The man clicked his tongue in disapproval. "How rude of me I forgot to introduce myself. I am Doflaming one of the few purebloods."

Marco bit his lip to remain silent. None of that meant anything to him but judging from everyone else it was important.

"So, the real question we need to ask is… who is going to die first?"

Once gain the teens remained in tense silence, unable to find an answer that would get them out of this alive.

"Let's see, eenie minie you." He pointed over at Usopp who was quivering in his spot about ready to cry.

The teens jumped to his aid only to be held back by the swarm of vampires in the room.

"Don't do it," Zoro screamed trying to steal his swords back from the vampire.

"GAh!" Was all Usopp could say in his defense as Doflamingo came closer grabbing his shoulders in a vice grip. He opened his mouth revealing his snow white fangs.

Despite the groups frantic screaming it looked like there was nothing they could do but watch as the fangs drifted closer to his neck.

When Doflamingo was about a centimeter away something amazing happened. A wooden arrow came flying through the room whizzing between Usopps neck and Doflamingo's open mouth. It lodged itself in the wall behind them with a satisfying thud.

The teenagers turned to see two familiar figures standing in the entry way. Luffy was the closest, his cross bow pointed at the vampire with an expert gaze. His face and clothes were covered with blood although it was doubtful it was his own. Ace stood beside him lightly growling at the vampires in the room. His eyes were glinting a dangerous yellow.

Doflmingo's surprise quickly turned to amusement as his mouth twisted into a smile. The vampire guards jumped to attack but he held them back. Instead he walked over to the wall pulling out Luffy's arrow.

He inspected it carefully nodding to himself. "As to be expected from the boy who's scared of nothing…except the dark that is."

"Shut up," Luffy said with unusual venom.

"So," Doflamino said thoughtfully tapping his chin. "I was wondering when you two would show up to save them."

"Yea? Well I was wondering when you would stop being suck a prick!" Ace said annoyed. "But it doesn't look like any time soon."

The man growled at that taking an ominous step towards them. Ace refused to waver under the man's wrath but he did pull his brother against his chest. The silent tension was thick enough to break glass in the room. Even the fellow vampire guards seemed uncomfortable.

Doflamigo paused, to address the younger boy. "Have you come back for more? Did you know that there is an old lore that a hunter's blood tastes the best?"

He turned back to Ace. "A mixed breed's blood however just tastes like rotten mud."

"Sorry to disappoint you." Ace snapped back angrily.

Luffy simply stuck his tongue out at the man, showing his blatant dislike.

That seemed to do the trick for the remaining shreds of the man's temper as he lashed out at the teen. Surging forwards at inhuman speeds.

Ace, seemingly the only one who could keep up with the rapid movement had grabbed his brother at the last second dodging the attack to another corner of the room. He kept his arms firmly wrapped around the younger one's shoulders in case the man had more in mind."

Doflamingo just sent them a look, anger embedded within it. "Ah youth, so rash and full of energy."

Ace seemed to realize something in his glare had changed as he cussed shutting his own eyes and covering his brothers with his hands.

"You really think that's going to save you?" Doflamingo questioned. "Pathetic."

"It doesn't have to!" Ace said suddenly opening his eyes as he caught a familiar scent.

Doflamingo seemed to realize it at the same time as he turned to face the new comer. His tense snakelike smile grew wider at the guest as he extended his arms in a type of welcoming pose. "Ah, so nice of you to join us."

"Sabo!" Luffy yelled happily as he wiggled out of Ace's reluctant hold to sprint across the room to his other brother.

"Hey Lu," Sabo said locking his arms around his little brother even as he refused to break eye contact with the blonde psycho.

"Who's that?" Sanji whispered.

"Sabo," Marco whispered back. "It's their other brother.

"Good or bad?"

Marco shrugged, "I don't know he seems nice enough but…he doesn't really seem to like us." But either way he would undoubtably help them. Maybe just maybe they would survive this afterall.

"Decided to come home yet?" Doflamingo asked with an infuriating smirk.

"Absolutely not!" Sabo said angrily as he whispered something in his younger brother's ear. Luffy shook his head only to be cut off by a firm nod from Sabo.

"What are you plotting now?" Doflamingo asked amused.

"We don't plot that's your job," Sabo reminded him as he gently pushed Luffy away from him.

The vampire followed each movement with a meticulous gaze. Turning back to focus on Sabo. "So tell me what do I owe the pleasure of having not only a renounced vampire noble but the head hunter to be and the prince of the wolves in my courtroom?"

Marco's jaw dropped open at that as he stared in shock. He wasn't alone in the reaction either. Besides him Thatch made a stuplified nose. He couldn't see the others from his vantage point but he guessed they were equally shocked. How the hell were these three kids so important? An even better question is how and why they were all living together. With those job titles you would think there would be a little more hatred between them. But no all he had seen between the three of them was love and trust.

Sabo ignored the man although it was clear the comment had clearly gotten under his skin. Instead he turned to Luffy.

"Go!"

Luffy nodded as he motioned to the others to follow him. Needing no further motivation they sprang into action sprinting after him.

Doflamingo gave an angry roar as he sprang forward ready to give chase. However before he could get far he was met by and a ferocious Sabo. He blocked his attack easily with his staff.

The vampires in the room on the other hand were surprised. The same could be said about the teens as this was seemingly counterproductive. The exit was the other way so why were they running for a small servant's doorway? This would undoubtedly take them further inside. Still they didn't have a whole lot of options at the moment. There were far too many vampires guarding the door. Taking advantage of the confusion the teens stole their weapons back.

As the vampire guards surged forwards only to be blocked by Ace throwing them viciously away.

Luffy threw open the door as they all piled inside the narrow hallway. He slammed it shut again sending them all into darkness as sounds of the ensuing fighting flowed over to them. Thatch and Marco made quick work of their weapons to jam the door with. Although it was doubtful it would hold for long.

"What now?" The exit was the other way after all.

"Sabo said we go this way." Luffy said as he began running down the hallway feeling his way along the walls.

"Wait!" Usopp yelled as he tripped over his own two feet. "How does he know this is the right way?"

"He used to live here," Luffy said with unusual tenseness in his voice as he helped Usopp up.

The teens fell silent for a moment as their minds flashed back to what Doflamingo had said about the three of them. Could it really be true? Doubtful he was lying but at the same time it was kind of unbelievable. Not like they had time to talk about it now. Besides the three boy's didn't seem willing to discuss it.

"Will they be okay?"

Luffy nodded even though they couldn't see it. "Their strong," He said after a pause.

They continued to walk in silence for a few moments until they literally walked into the end of the hallway. Another inconspicuous door. They opened it spilling into a large dim room. Thirty foot tall shelves lined the walls all filled with dusty books. It looked like no one had been in here for years.

"The library?" Sanji guessed as he dusted himself off. "How is this going to help us?"

"Well it's not filled with a bunch of monsters idiot," Zoro said ready to start yet another fight.

"Oh that's rich coming from you the king of the idiots." Sanji said with a wry grin.

"So you're saying I'm your king?"

"Shut up!" Sanji muttered lighting a cigarette.

"What now?" Marco asked as he glanced around the huge room.

Luffy shrugged as he helped Thatch barricade the door. It was clear he wasn't really paying attention. He appeared to be worried, no doubt about the two who stayed behind. It was slightly unnerving to see him so silent and thoughtful.

"So… Sabo's a vampire?" Sanji broached casually.

Luffy nodded only half listening.

"Noble?" Usopp added in terrified once again. Probably thinking of all the horrible things the blond could do to him if angered. He was probably having a rough time considering he still wasn't over Ace being a wolf yet.

"So… why did he leave then?" Marco probed.

Luffy glanced around the room. "Would you want to live here?"

Marco looked around realizing that was a good point. The answer was no… he would hate to live here. The people were literal monsters. But to be fair he wasn't a vampire.

The room's occupants froze as there was a loud knock on the door. No one dared as the so much a breath until it was followed up by.

"It's us,"

Luffy moved away from the door pulling Thatch with him as the wolf and vampire spilled in slamming the door behind them.

"I think we need something to barricade it with," Sabo grunted as something slammed into the door loudly.

"What about the other entrance?" Marco questioned as he ran over to pull a desk against it.

"There is none." Sabo said as the door once again shuttered, beginning to splinter from the sheer force. "This is a forgotten room. The entrance was long since sealed." He explained. "The only way to get in it the servants hall."

"So how do we get out?" Ace questioned.

The two of them moved aside in order to barricade the doorway.

Sabo pointed to the roof, "That way."

He ignored the befuddled stares and instead pointed to the bookcase at the center of the room. "By climbing this."

"S-seriously?" Usopp paled at the thought. "I think I might die if I try to climb that."

Zoro stared up at the tall ceiling making sure his swords are securely tied to his belt. He put his boot on the first shelf only to be used as stairs for Sanji.

"Like hell I would let you go first," He said as he began climbing.

"Bastard!" Zoro yelled dragging him down by his pant leg.

Marco just frowned as he stepped over them and began climbing quickly followed by Thatch.

"I think I'll die if I climb up there." Usopp said with a gulp as he stared up daunted.

"Would you rather be thrashed by a sworn of hungry vampires." Marco questioned dryly.

"Death by falling it is then," Usopp wheezed as he once again looked up at ceiling. When he still didn't move Luffy grabbed his wrist pulling him over to the bookcase.

"You'll be fine," He promised as he climbed up to the first shelf.

"Ace?" Sabo questioned. Turning their attention to the wolf who had not moved the entire time. Instead his attention was fixed on the door.

"I'll draw the scent away kay?" He said turning back to give them a reassuring smile. This was met with protest from Luffy and Sabo.

Stop coming up with creative ways to kill yourself!" Sabo said with exasperation.

"I'll be fine," Ace insisted giving them a confident smile. "Besides it's the only way you guys can get away. No offense but humans are really slow."

Said humans booed in offense. Although too be fair when compared to these monsters anything was considered slow.

"Fine," Sabo caved realizing he was right. "But you better be careful."

"Yea yea I know the drill." He said with a slight smile. "Now go!"

Luffy had paused in his climbing to stare at Ace frowning. Still he had stayed silent through the exchange most likely realizing there was nothing he could say to change his brother's mind. Sabo grabbed his hand pulling him up the final shelves to the top of the shelf where the rest of the teens congregated. Usopp was on his stomach peering over the ledge and making moaning sounds.

About fifteen feet above them was a broken skylight. The sight was not a welcome one considering this was clearly their escape option. Why was this room so damn tall honestly? Sure it did give the library a grand and majestic appearance but at what cost. Who was the idiot who designed this place? There weren't even any books up here just sadness… and cobwebs.

"You've got to be kidding me," Thatch moaned.

Marco was about to suggest an embarrassing cheerleader pyramid type deal when he felt a shoe on his shoulder. Using him as a foot hold Luffy vaulted himself into the air managing to catch the twisted metal of the skylight with his fingertips.

For what felt like the hundredth time that day Marco felt his jaw drop. They watched in awed silence as the kid pulled himself up to sit on the thin metal support rod. He brought the heel of his boot into the surrounding glass shattering it. They were forced to turn away as the tinted shards rained around them.

Oblivious to this he hooked his legs around the metal tumbling back through the hole. Suspended in the air fifty feet above the ground. Hanging only by his legs. Luffy however seemed indifferent to the danger as he dropped his arms over his head extending them towards the group.

"Grab on!"

"Nope!" Usopp insisted turning back to the edge of the shelf. "I'll just stay here for the rest of my … HEY!" He protested as Sanji and Zoro boosted him up letting Luffy grab the collar of his shirt. He made dramatic strangling sounds as the black haired boy swung him onto the remaining glass letting him slide down onto the roof. Not willing to let Sanji and Zoro begin arguing again Thatch and Marco silently agreed to send Sanji flying through the air into Luffy's outstretched arms. He sputtered defiantly cussing them as Luffy swung him onto the roof as well.

Before he could even think of getting Zoro he felt himself being lifted by the idiot swordsman and his traitorous best friend. He gratefully grabbed onto Luffy's arms only to nearly let go a second later.

Luffy's shirt had slipped down over his stomach from the gravity of his position. There on his stomach were a network of scars. They were faded from age and impossible to see unless you were close. He would have assumed they were done by miscellaneous monsters if not for the obvious cigarette burns near his ribs.

He barley felt it as the teen swung him onto the undamaged glass. As he slid down to the roof he glanced at the other two. Silently questioning if they had seen it as well. Their oblivious faces told him they hadn't. So he opted to instead wait in silence until the others joined him.

When everyone was littered across the roof Luffy once again flipped right-side up, sitting on the metal rod impatiently waiting for Sabo to join them.

"Do you have an idea to get us down as well?" Zoro questioned as he stared over the ledge.

"It was never really a problem before now?" Sabo pointed out pulling himself up.

"Do you think we will be able to reach the tree limb?" Thatch pointed out

"There!" Sanji dropped his cigarette grinding it into the roof top as he made his way across the ledge. "A lake!"

"It's where they throw the bodies of their victims," Sabo told them.

"That's horrible!"

"Those poor people!"

"I AM NOT GOING IN THERE! It's probably haunted.

"Don't give me that look! It's not like it was my idea." He protested as they glared darkly at him.

Sanji peered over the edge smoothing back his hair. "Well like it or not it's our only sho…SHIT." He screamed as Zoro shoved him over the ledge mid-sentence. They could hear him cursing the green haired teen all the way until he hit the water.

"Well he's alive," Zoro said dryly staring over the ledge. "I guess it's safe."

The heard the resounding, "Screw you!" From below.

"For real this time! I am not going in there," Usopp began only to be picked up by the rest of them. He too was tossed into the lake kicking and screaming. Only this time they all winced sympathetically as he hit the water in a solid belly flop.

"He forgot to stay tight." Thatch said sadly shaking his head. "This is how you do it!"

Marco couldn't help but roll his eyes at his friend as he cannon balled into the lake bringing up grizzly white bones with the momentum. He quickly followed sticking to the typical military fall.

Sabo watched them go with mild confusion. Humans continued to surprise him. They were defensive of the bones floating in the lake blow. Despite being complete strangers in life they cared about them after death. Why would a corpse care where it ended up? Maybe this was just the horrible blood sucking monster inside him talking but he didn't get it. Would they care as much about floating wolves' corpses? He doubted it. So was being of the same species the deciding feature? He shook his head giving up on the problem.

"Hold on tight okay?" Sabo told his brother as he pulled him into a hug. Luffy nodded wrapping his arms as tight as he could around the vampire.

Sabo tipped forwards pulling both of them off the roof into free fall through the air. He barley even registered hitting the water although he could tell Luffy did as his arms tightened at the coldness. Their world plunged into darkness as the momentum dragged them to the bottom. He could feel smooth bone brush his skin. He closed his eyes not willing to see the destruction his race caused.

Kicking off from the bottom both he and Luffy breathed air in as they broke the surface.

"Worst plan yet!"

"Well it's not like anyone had a better one!" Sanji said defensively as he began swimming towards the shore. "And I will kill you Zoro!"

Ussop yelled and began desperately swimming after Sanji screaming about something brushing his leg. Undoubtedly something was. Thankfully enough for him the vampire's hadn't had a fresh kill in a while. Otherwise this would be a whole other level of disgusting.

Sabo grimaced at the thought and continued swimming dragging him and his brother to shore. They had tried countless times to teach Luffy to swim but it just wouldn't stick.

The rest of the group stood their huddled around themselves searching for warmth. They were exhausted, soaked and tired but at least they were relatively alright. The water would serve to throw off their scent. That being said they still were more than half a day's journey away from town. At least by human standards. They were agonizingly slow after all.

Still the threat of fighting the vampires drove them onwards. Wet and miserable.

"This was about as much fun as I thought it would be!" Sanji remarked dryly after a few hours of silence.

"Thanks for gracing us with your presence," Zoro replied not missing a beat. If anything it appeared that this trip had worsened their relationship. If that were at all possible.

After another few hours of tireless walking it had begun raining, as if the universe decided they didn't look miserable and cold enough. The joke was on the weather however as they were already soaked and freezing without any help.

It was getting pretty dark as well and the tired teens kept crashing into trees and tripping over their surroundings. Although they hardly had to worry about getting mauled by a wolf with Sabo around. With tensions running as high as they were not many creatures were willing to steal a vampires 'food'. Not that he couldn't smell them near, waiting for the first chance he lowered his guard and let one of the humans out of his sight. They made the already tense walk a living hell for the exhausted human teenagers as they could still see the occasional yellow eyes though the darkness.

They were followed unnervingly close to the village. In fact the creatures only really gave up when the town came into view. Just the mere sight of it seemed to give the humans a second wind as their energy picked up. Still regardless of how tempting it must have been they didn't take off running towards their home.

"You guys!" Usopp said tears welling up in his eyes. "You're the best! You actually helped me save my grandma. I can't think of how I can possibly thank you."

"Stop running off into the woods in the middle of the night." Sanji suggested ruining the moment.

"Ah that's right," Luffy kneeled down digging through his backpack to pull out a crinkled piece of paper. "Ace wanted me to give this to you."

Marco took it inspecting it closely, "What is it?" He said finally giving up.

"It's a map," Sabo said looking over his shoulder. "To our house."

"Now you can come and get us if you need our help," Luffy said brightly bringing up a pretty good point. Both times had just been lucky breaks.

"It's a short map," Zoro commented.

"It's just from the main road to the first marker." Sabo explained to them. The forest was far too dense and unreliable for anything else. You either knew it like the back of your hand or you immediately got lost. When Luffy had first come to live with them they had put subtle trail markers in the trees all the way home so he wouldn't get lost.

"You guys willingly wander into the woods more often than anyone else I've met." Sabo said with concern in his voice.

The teens turned away trying not to think about how right he was. It was kind of ridiculous when you thought about it.

"Still though," Marco said with a grateful smile. "You guys have saved our lives twice now. Thank you."

Sabo just shrugged looking over at Luffy who smiled brightly at him." Don't worry about it." He really didn't understand humans.

 **XXX**

Later that night found Sabo laying on the couch reading his book. Or at least attempting too. He was impatiently waiting for Ace to return. The events of the day kept running through his mind at high speeds. In the grand scheme of things this was not good. They would appear even more sympathetic to the humans now. This would be fine if a war wasn't about to break out. The hope of staying neutral was pretty slim and growing smaller with each action. Although hopefully this would deter the vampires from trying to get them involved. Still he doubted Doflamingo was going to forget this easily, that man sure could hold a grudge. To be fair Sabo didn't regret it. That man was just asking to be knocked down a peg. Serves him right. No way would Sabo forgive him for that stunt he had pulled a couple of weeks ago.

He turned back to the book only to glance questioningly at the door a second later. None of the three were the type to sit around when there were things to be done. Although considering he had no clue where Ace was he doubted looking for him would improve the situation. If he had learned anything over the years it was that Ace could take care of himself.

He sighed as he flopped backwards looking up at the familiar ceiling. He loved this place. It was so small and crowded. Nothing like the cold and desolate palace. A place so large they could simply forget about the library. Here he didn't have to pretend to be someone he wasn't. No more manners or stuffy rules, certainly no more having to tolerate people he detested. He was free to act however he wanted even if it 'wasn't proper.' Comparatively that place was hellish. He would have gladly live his life never returning. He had been lucky enough to avoid seeing his parents though. Small victories. If he was lucky then he was dead to them.

He looked up as Luffy walked in hair still wet from the shower and yawning widely. He had undoubtedly been up for a few days.

"Is Ace back yet?"

Sabo shook his head causing the younger boy to pout.

"What are you reading?"

"Moby Dick."

"Oh," Luffy considered for a second before crawling on top of Sabo. Wiggling between his arms like a dog demanding attention.

"What's it about?"

"A giant whale and a very vengeful man," Sabo told him surprised he was interested in a book at all. He made a mental note to ask Ace what happened on their trek. Luffy usually only got clingy when something was bothering him. Although Sabo knew better then to ask him about it. He was someone who lived in the moment to the point where he would ignore the past.

"Want me to read it?"

Luffy nodded resting his cheek on his brother's shoulder in order to look up at the pages.

Sabo began reading aloud, not even bothering to start at the beginning as he knew his brother wasn't really listening. At least now the house was finally noisy again. While the two of them were gone it was eerily silent. He was glad he wasn't alone here anymore. He continued to talk even after Luffy had fallen asleep.

His thoughts drifted over to Law before he could help it. If he hadn't met the two of them then would he have grown up to be just like that man? Probably. Either that or he would still live in that empty castle pretending to be someone he wasn't and adding bodies to that gruesome lake.

He felt the weight on his chest anchoring him to reality. For the first time in his life he had learned what it meant to be loved by someone. What was even more important was how it felt to love someone else. It gave your life a purpose much greater then yourself.

He looked up as the door opened. In walked a yawning Ace, bleeding slightly from the shoulder but aside from that relatively unharmed.

"Welcome back,"

"Thanks," Ace said with another yawn.

"You sure took your time."

"They wouldn't stop chasing me." He said rubbing his eye sleepily.

"Hold on, I'll go get the med kit." He began to shift Luffy off of him without waking him up. Before he could even get up Ace collapsed on top of him.

"What is with you guys tonight?"

Ace didn't answer as his narcolepsy had already kicked in. He was asleep instantly no doubt worn out from that day long chase.

As a general rule Wolves let their actions speak for them. They did and said exactly what they were thinking leaving little room for interpretation. They also couldn't be held up to the same standards as humans and vampires considering they were part wild. As such they didn't have the same socially acceptable social mores vampires and humans enjoyed. Their personal space was pretty non-existent and nothing was really off limits for them. Of course the same could not be said about humans. They had complicated social codes almost as bad as the vampires. This however seemed to mean nothing to Luffy as he had never been one to follow the status Que. He did whatever he wanted as well. This was a bit of a surprise to Sabo when they had started living together although he had quickly gotten used to it. Even growing to appreciate and reciprocate it. Only with these two of course.

"Yes yea," He rolled his eyes. "Missed you guys too."

 **.**

 **Yay! Sorry again updates were so infrequent this summer. I promise the every other week schedule will begin again after this chapter. I finally wrapped up the Grandmother arc. Although there is still the loose ends to tie up. I have been waiting forever to write that last scene with the three of them sleeping on the couch after a long day. Next chapter should have chopper in it as well. Yay! I'm really sorry I didn't respond to last chapter's comments. I did not have enough internet or time to pull that off. I'm leaving for collage in three days so wish me luck** **Comment and tell me what you think.**

 **SEllen23: I'm so glad you liked it! I was really worried about the quality of the writing. Chopper should be in the next chapter as well, being adorable like he is.**

 **Poemado: I promise I will get there soon enough! Until then there will be cute stories about them learning to live together. Starting next chapter we will get a lot of hints and more backstory.**

 **Headphone girl A15: Yes! Sorry it wasn't that soon but it is an update!**

 **Arxhaelolgist: Thank you! Unfortunately it will be a little while before Usopp meets him. I should talk about what ASL did to get rid of the wolves but in case I forget they just spread a bunch of rumors to the other wolves warning anybody to go into those outskirts. From here onwards there should be some more insight into their backstories although it will still be a little while until I get to it. As Marco discovered Luffy has some pretty deep literal scars. Sorry I went back and looked for the 'those two' you were referring too but I couldn't find it. I am really glad you liked the story** **Hopefully you liked this chapter as well.**

 **Lostdog200: Yes! Anytime.**

 **Kuroyuki D. Neko: Sorry the update wasn't very fast. I'm glad you liked it though.**


	13. Chapter 13

**In case I forget to resolve it in the story. Ace and Sabo stopped Wolves from going into Choppers outskirts by spreading scary rumors. They have got a pretty good reputation as being tough so anything they say is taken pretty seriously. Now that the 'grandmother plot' is finally resolved they are going to focus on the fallout from all of it. From here the characters have to get a little more serious about the race war and the unrest in the forest. But for now this is mostly a cute chapter. The group is coming together more and more. Next chapter should be the super overdue flashback to either Ace or Sabo when they just started living together. They each get their own short flashback because it's cute** **although if you have any thoughts on who you want to see next just tell me because I could go either way.**

 **.**

Marco looked up confused at his father. In his hands was his familiar cell phone. He thought he had dropped it in the forest.

"How did you get this?"

Oyaji raised an eyebrow at him but didn't say anything. While he clearly didn't approve of Marco's 'impromptu trip'. he could tell his father had pride for his bravery and survival skills. As a parent Whitebeard gave him a certain level of trust to make his own decisions. This was something many other parents wouldn't even consider so naturally Marco counted himself grateful.

"It was left on the front porch of city hall."

Marco's frown grew as he took it flipping it open to inspect it. To his surprise an image flooded the screen. It was Luffy and Ace from the night they had ran into the hunters.

His concern only grew as he flipped through the pictures. Who would do something like this? One of the hunters possibly. He couldn't see a motive for it though. What could they possibly be trying to accomplish?

"Who else saw this?"

"Nobody but me and Luffy's grandfather."

Marco looked up at his father confused. "His Grandfather?"

Whitebeard nodded continuing on. "For some reason he swears up and down this boy is his grandchild."

"And you don't believe him?" Marco prodded.

"I want to for his sake but… His grandson is dead."

Marco froze at that. "What?"

Pops nodded obliviously. "It was a long time ago the kid must have been around seven years old. He just went missing one day. Hunters searched all over those woods."

Marco nodded. This was nothing new. Every time someone went missing hunters would search the woods hopeful to find a body. "But they never found anything?" The wolves had probably dragged it away.

To his surprise Oyaji shook his head. "No they found something alright. They found some of his clothes covered in blood."

"Couldn't he have still survived?" Marco sked feeling dread well up in his throat.

"Not with loosing that much." Pops said sadly. "He was such a tiny kid it's horrible to think he died in such a violent way. Of course there were rumors…"

Marco's head shot up at that. "Rumors about what?"

Whitebeard frowned as he looked at his son. "It was probably the rantings of a paranoid town."

"What did they say?"

"Well things were getting out of hand but they claimed that it wasn't an accident that it was murder."

Marco's skin crawled at the revelation. "But they were just rumors right?"

"Most likely. All I know is that Garp had become increasingly worried about his son and he had tried to take custody of his grandson in the days leading up to his disappearance."

"Is the other boy his step brother?"

"Huh?" Oyaji said taken by surprise. "No he was an only child. Garp only had one grandchild."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded giving his son a strange look. "You don't happen to know something do you?"

Marco shook his head lazily not revealing anything. "Nope."

His father clearly did not buy it but he nodded anyways. "Well all I can tell you is his name is Ace and he is supposed to be dead."

Marco nodded hopelessly confused as he snapped his phone shut. He needed to tell Ace about the pictures, he owed it to the teen for risking his life two times already. If it was at all possible then maybe he could get some answers. Why did they say Ace and Luffy were supposed to be dead?

He thanked his father waiting impatiently for him to head off to work before stowing his phone in his pocket and grabbing his coat. If there was one thing he was good at it was returning debts

He had the map Ace had given him. Hopefully this would be enough to find their tiny cabin again… that plus a sizable hunting rifle. He figured that as long as the daylight held out he could make it there relatively unscathed.

Barring that thought in his mind he headed for the edge of town. Driving his poor beat up jeep to the limit. All while thinking of the unanswered questions piling up. Considering their reactions he hadn't dared to bring up what Doflamingo said. Although he was dying to know more. Prince of wolves (was their even such a thing?), Head hunter in training and vampire noble? For starters none of them seemed very motivated to fulfill their roles. Secondly how were they so friendly with each other with backgrounds like that? Luffy should be trying to kill Ace, Ace should be rallying the wolves against him and Sabo… he wasn't actually sure what vampire nobles did. Probably just mess with people's lives all day and plot. Clearly none of them took these tittles very seriously as the rest of the world either gave up on them or seemed to think they were dead. And the three were in no rush to set the record straight.

Also in terms of interesting news it turns out the three weren't actually related. Until today Marco thought they could be half-brothers but it was looking less and less likely as time went by. It wasn't like thinking about it was going to get him answers.

Sighing he slammed the car door intending to do the rest on foot. Swinging his weapon over his shoulder he stared down at the map. According to this all he needed to do was follow the path until he saw the first marker. This was supposed to be even Luffy proof. Sure enough a few minutes of walking he saw an arrow head carved into a tree trunk. It was tiny and discreet unless you knew what to look for. He was just about to follow the trail when a familiar sound caught his attention. Someone was…talking. Not just someone by the sounds of it. He recognized those voices. Following the road a little further he followed the slashes carved in the tree trunks unsurprised to see two familiar faces.

"What could you two possibly be doing?"

Zoro sheathed his swords with his familiar infuriating grin. "I was practicing. This idiot insisted to come along." Said idiot looked miffed at the comment.

"I was trying to train, you know bulk up a little bit."

Zoro rolled his eyes at that. "Where are you off to?"

"There's something I have to tell Ace."

That got both of their attention as they stared at him stupidly. "You can't be serious? What could you have to tell him that was so important that you journey through monster infested woods to do it?"

Marco looked at them for a moment as he considered. "Sorry can't tell you." He said with a smirk. He figured he better keep this one to himself.

"Seriously? You're going to leave us in the dark here?"

"Yep!"

The three of them stood there awkwardly for a few seconds until he asked. "Want to come."

"You've got to be kidding me"

"Why not."

Usopp and Zoro said speaking at once.

"Seriously?" Usopp questioned him. "We barely got out of here last time?"

"Its good training." Zoro replied as he headed off to join Marco.

"You guys can't leave me alone here." Usopp yelled after them.

"Oh we can't?" Zoro teased as he continued walking. "Tell the vampires hi for us will you?"

Marco watched with amusement as Usopp scrambled after them yelling loud enough to attract all the vampires in the entire forest.

 **XXX**

Despite the quick pace they still had quite a long journey. This was not made easier by the fact tht Zoro seemed to keep getting lost every five minutes. Usopp and Marco would look at each other fearfully before darting off after the idiot. And even after a stunt like that the green haired idiot still had the nerve to continuously ask if Marco was lost! Thankfully enough the view of the tiny cabin finally shut the swordsman up.

"Get back here Chopper!" They heard a familiar voice call as a brown streak rushed by them. A familiar figure was quick to follow. They watched with interest as Luffy lunged at the creature hugging it tight so it couldn't get away.

To their immense surprise it appeared to be a stark naked creature with fluffy brown hair and large innocent eyes. He stared up at them in fear as he wiggled out of the kids hold darting back into the cabin.

Luffy frowned as he pulled himself up to his elbows wiping dirt off his cheek.

"Good to see you?" Marco said still a little surprised.

Luffy turned to them surprised. "Oh your back!" He said with his usual infectious smile.

"Er… what are you doing?"

He seemed to remember his previous task at that moment as he once again took off after the naked little boy.

"Chopper come back here!" He yelled tearing through the house.

"Er, Luffy?" Usopp called as he crept closer peering inside.

"You can't make me!" Came the defiant cry from the little animal.

"I don't like them either but Sabo says humans have to wear clothes."

To their surprise it was Ace who answered the door much more gracefully this time in comparison. He leaned against the frame fixing them with a confident smirk.

"Don't tell me? Are you in trouble already?"

"Nothing like that." Marco told him thankfully.

Ace nodded thinking for a moment before moving aside to let the three of them in. "Well then."

Marco noticed that most of his cold anger towards them had disappeared. While they probably weren't the people he wanted to see on his doorstep so early in the morning at least he didn't hate them like he used to. Marco didn't know if it was tht he had decided them trust worthy individuals or simply the fact they accepted him even after finding out he was a wolf. It was probably a mix of the two thing. Either way it was a welcomed change.

"So what's going on here?" He asked curiously as he watched Luffy chase the child.

Ace shut the door turning to deal with the problem before them. "That's Chopper we are watching him for a friend… Luffy's in charge of him."

"Why?" Zoro deadpanned as a smirk crossed Ace's face.

"Well for one thing it keeps them both busy. Secondly Chopper is the only person on earth who can tire that kid out."

It was true. It would seem Luffy had finally met his match babysitting this thing. They watched as he lunged over the table as the tiny creature narrowly avoided his outstretched fingers.

"What is that thing?" Usopp asked curiously as he peeked over Zoro's shoulder.

"Chopper," Ace told them. "He is a reindeer hybrid."

"Are you for real?"

Ace nodded oblivious to their shock. Apparently he couldn't see what was so surprising about that.

Marco was about to ask how that was possible before a groan cut him off. "Why is it so loud?"

They turned to see Sabo standing in the stairway yawning. Ace smirked at this as he moved to hand his brother a mug of coffee.

"Up late last night were we?"

Sabo nodded as his head fell on Ace's shoulder still half asleep. He mumbled something incoherent only to be shaken awake again.

"What were you doing?" Marco asked curiously as he observed them.

Sabo yawned widely as he looked up, seemingly noticing them for the first time. He composed himself before wiping the sleep out of his gaze as he straightened. Marco got the notion he didn't want to show weakness in front of them.

Despite the good will between them and the other two brothers apparently it didn't extend to Sabo. He was the brother they had spent the least amount of time with and honestly he was a bit of a loose cannon. But if he had to guess Marco would say his affection for them hadn't increased much since their first meeting.

"The woods have become very hectic lately," Sabo said with a small cryptic smile of his own. "There is plenty of things to keep an eye on around here.

"And Sabo has his eye on everything around here." Ace said shooting a grin at his brother.

"Oh like you can talk," Sabo shot back hitting his arm lightly with the now empty mug. He was wearing the honest smile he had only for his brothers.

Marco watched them through half lidded eyes trying to hide his interest. He had always had a knack for observing, even if it sometimes bordered on nosey. There was a subtle difference in how Ace reacted with Sabo then how he did with Luffy. If he had to give it a name it would be protective and occasionally possessive of the younger one. He kept him in close sight and everyone else away from him. This contrasted the teasing competitive banter he had with Sabo. This made sense considering Ace and Sabo looked to be about the same age and Luffy was his baby brother.

He looked over at the other two to see if they were listening. Instead their interest was fixed on the little raccoon creature.

"Oy Luffy!" Zoro called. "Need any help?"

Luffy yelped as Chopper leapt over him, using his back to springboard his escape. He crashed to the floor only to pull himself back up determined this time. Chopper was laughing hysterically at this as he teased his friend.

"No!"

"You sure?" Zoro egged. "Bet I can catch him faster."

"Like you can human," The creature called ducking behind a wall in a horrible reverse attempt of hiding.

"Your so on!" Luffy challenged fixing Zoro with a determined glare. The two of them scrambled after the creature leaving Usopp to run after them.

"It's too early for this," Sabo said rubbing his temples.

"You were the one who told Luffy to make Chopper wear clothes." Ace pointed out.

"I thought it would keep them busy," Sabo argued weakly. To his credit it definitely kept them busy. Just not as quietly as he was hoping.

"The one time your plan backfires." Ace laughed.

Taking advantage of the privacy Marco pulled out his phone. "Actually there's something I need to tell you guys."

Ace and Sabo shot each other a look, picking up on his change of tone.

Checking to make sure the four of them were fully occupied he showed them the pictures watching their reactions carefully.

"What the hell?"

That seemed pretty fitting. Basically his reaction as well. "My phone was stolen and left in front of town hall."

He nearly jumped as Ace growled giving Sabo a more serious look. The blonde's attention however was fully invested in Marco. As if he was a news broadcaster.

"Who saw it?" Ace asked impossibly tense.

"Not many people, it was intercepted by Oyaji." Marco assured him. "Although Garp did see it."

Ace nodded slowly mulling it over. He clearly did not look happy at the revelation but there appeared to be more at stake here then he was aware of.

Sabo frowned looking at the picture again. "Who on earth could have taken it?"

"And why did they use my phone?" Marco grumbled.

"What did Garp say?"

Marco frowned as the confusion came flooding back to him. Considering the teen usual approach to questions he wondered if he should even bother trying to get some strait answers.

"Well he thinks its you two. But he is alone in that opinion as everyone in convinced you are dead."

When Ace didn't say anything he grew curious.

"So… how did you manage to pull that off?"

"Huh?" Ace looked up sharing a glance with Sabo.

"Why do you want to know?" Sabo challenged politely.

Marco shrugged playing it off casually. "Well I was a little curious to be honest. They said that Luffy lost too much blood to possibly survive." To his surprise Ace and Sabo looked at each other, twin smiles blooming across their face.

"Told you it would work." Sabo said smugly.

"You just love saying I told you so don't you?"

Marco looked between them lost. Clearly he was missing something. "You two did that?"

Ace and Sabo shared another look, more serious this time. He felt like they were having a silent conversation.

"Some of it," Ace admitted earning him a huff from the blonde as Sabo had clearly voted against telling Marco. Still he felt a little flattered that Ace was starting to trust him. Even if it still wasn't very much.

"The blood on his clothes was real. He nearly bled out." Ace's expression was somber as if he was remembering something extremely unpleasant. Marco also noticed how his voice got lower.

"The blood surrounding the area was rabbit blood." Sabo injected.

Marco nodded slowly. That would make sense. This way even if they tested it they probably wouldn't bother with the surrounding bloody dirt as well. He also noted Ace didn't bother bringing up why thought he was dead or how they even knew him. But he figured he should stick to simpler questions.

"So why did you do it? Surely his family is worried about him."

Sabo and Ace looked at each other once again obviously wondering how they should phrase this. "In their own way they might be," Sabo said tactfully. "But for now it's probably best if they think he died."

Ace huffed crossing his arms as he turned away. "They better feel bad after the crap they pull…ooof." He groaned as Sabo elbowed him in the ribs.

Marco frowned at that. So they actually intended for his family to think he died. But Ace had said 'they' instead of him. From what he could tell all Luffy had was a dad and grandfather. It sounded like Garp was just as clueless about this as everyone else so that just left Dragon. One man was hardly considered a group. Who could the others possibly be? He doubted they were going to tell him anything else so he opted to tactfully let the subject drop.

The more he learned the more confused he became. He had thought they were just three brothers toughing it out in the woods. Then it turns out Ace was a wolf Sabo a vampire and they weren't even related. Sabo was a high ranked noble only for him to turn down all that power to live in a tiny cabin with two different boys from another species. Luffy was supposed to be the fiercest hunter of the bunch but apparently threw all of that away and was 'better off dead'. He gave up humanity for a world full of monsters waiting to eat him the first chance they got. Instead of hunting the monsters he lived with them. And last was Ace. The supposed Prince of wolves but from what Marco had seen that was not true. He knew next to nothing about Ace except Garp seemed to know of him without actually knowing him.

Marco was startled out of his thoughts by a victorious cry.

"Got him!"

The three of them looked over at a pile of tangled limbs. Together Luffy and Zoro were holding a wiggling Chopper.

"Nooo!" The little creature wailed.

"Is wearing clothes really that bad?" Usopp asked skeptically.

Chopper looked up at him as if he just noticed the long nosed teen for the first time. He blinked silent for a moment before screaming.

"Gah! Another human. Get away from me."

Usopp jumped at that, clearly not used to being on the receiving end of fear. He knelt down besides the creature with a frown. "It's Usopp not 'you human' and I'm not scary."

"What are you even doing in the forest? I thought humans didn't come here."

"We had to visit Luffy." Zoro spoke up from besides him.

Chopper calmed at that not expecting that answer. He turned to Luffy a serious expression on his face.

"Are you in a gang?"

Luffy laughed at that. "No stupid that would be…" He paused for a second thinking it over carefully. "Really cool!" He finished.

He turned to Sabo and Ace, his eyes wide with excitement. "Hey can…"

"No!" They said unanimously cutting him off.

"But!"

"Nope!"

He pouted as he turned away muttering 'stingy' under his breath.

"Were friends," Usopp explained carefully.

Chopper looked between them confused. "Friends? Like you play together?" Well that was one way to put it. While not incorrect it was a bit of a broad term.

"Sure, why not."

Chopper nodded thinking carefully. He looked up at Usopp puffing his cheeks in determination. "Your Luffy's friends?"

They nodded.

"I'm his friend too! And friends share stuff so does that mean we are friends too?"

Usopp and Zoro looked at each other lost for words. Things usually didn't mean people. That logic also wasn't grounds for friendship. But they could hardly tell the little creature that.

"Sure," Usopp said after a moment. He offered his hand to the creature only for him to lick it.

"You're supposed to shake it," Luffy told him sitting back on his heels.

"Why would I do that?"

"Just go with it," Ace called. "Humans like their stupid gestures."

Chopper nodded understandingly. "Alright," He held out his hood shaking Usopp's awkwardly.

"Friends it is then."

"You too Zoro!"

"This is stupid."

"Say it or he will bite you."

"Friends." The swordsman said coming over to kneel in the small group on the floor. His expression quickly changing into a grin as he saw Choppers impossibly large smile.

 **.**

 **Chopper made friend's yay! The SH are coming together slowly but surely. Marco is also getting closer to Ace while Sabo stays distant. We got some more insight into Luffy's situation. Even though it seems like we have a good idea of what went down there is still a lot more to come. This was just a small piece of the story and a lot of the information from whitebeard was wrong/ simplified. I know I already said this last chapter but from here the focus is going to shift into Sabo's past more. There will still be hints and clues about Luffy's and Ace's though. Anyways I hope you liked the chapter. Please tell me what you think.**

 **Lostdog200: Aww thank you! It was a fun summer even if it was super stressful. I'm really glad you liked it! It's nice to hear it made you happy. Hopefully you will like this chapter as well.**

 **Amy: So I will go into it later and it is a bit of spoiler but Gol D. Rodger was king of wolves. So Ace has no official title but genetically that's what he would be. (but shhh it's a secret) I'm glad you liked the chapter! It was really fun to write. This one is a little mellower but we get some character growth. Thanks for such a nice review**


	14. Chapter 14

**I hope you guys have an amazing holiday season! Hopefully I can get a lot of writing done.**

 ***** There is a lot of backstory that led our characters to be where they were at the stories start. Since we are a bit of the way into the story I thought now would be a good time to start explaining it. So this is part one of four or five explaining the character's past. I hope you guys like it!**

 **I don't know if I will get around to it or not in the story so here is some background information on the ASL trio. They are indeed a pack although a very odd one. Ace is the oldest and strongest so he is the alpha. Sabo is not quick to make group decisions and is less of a team player preferring to keep his thoughts and actions to himself so he is the beta. Luffy is the youngest and the weakest and they think of him as the cub of the litter so they are both protective of him. Despite being a tiny group they are very strong and have respect as everyone has learned not to mess with them. Even though they live on the outskirts that area is known as their territory so most creatures avoid it unless they are looking for a fight. This is what kept Marco and Co alive the first time they were lost in the forest.**

 **XXX**

 **Backstory part 1**

'Long day,' Rodger thought wearily as he fumbled with his key. He hoped Rouge wouldn't notice the alcohol on his breath. Especially considering that just yesterday she had given him a speech about being a better role model.

He entered the house wearily only to be greeted by the smell of his wife's cooking. She was not talented by any means. In fact when they had first met he thought she was trying to poison him but since then she had improved greatly. Despite her far too liberal use of the salt he wouldn't trade her cooking for the world.

He hung his coat up and crossed the small house to join his wife in the kitchen. She hadn't noticed him yet and was instead humming the familiar tune of 'Let it Be' to herself. He smirked as he put a gentle hand on her shoulder (he had long since learned it was not a good idea to startle her) giving her a hello kiss.

"How's our little monster?"

She cast a glance under the table. "He won't stop destroying the furniture." She told him. "The second I got him to leave the chair leg alone he went after the books and then it was the pillows."

Rodger chuckled at this as he knelt down, lifting the table cloth from one side. "He will grow out of it." He assured her. "He is at that age where his teeth are begging to sharpen… Isn't that right Big Bad?"

The boy under the table perked up at the familiar nickname. Just minutes before his father had walked in he had taken a break from gnawing the table leg.

"Come on, your mother says dinner is ready." He tilted his head at his father before going back to chewing the table leg.

Rodger rolled his eyes. Ace reminded him of himself when he was a kid. Maybe that was the problem. No wonder he took to Rouge so much. It was in the D. bloodline to love that women. Still he had no doubt Ace would grow up into a spunky young lad closely resembling his mother when she was in her teens. And he thought the kid was a handful now.  
Oblivious to their stare down Rouge mercifully placed the bowls of stew on the table calling Ace from under the table.

"Your food is up here," she told him gently but firmly.

Unable to resist the promise of food Ace begrudgingly crawled out from under the table to take his place besides his parents. The leg creaked uncertainly under the weight of the stew pot as it's newly sawed leg threatened to cave.

"We ought to give you a chew toy." Rodger mused to himself.

Ace glared up at him. Good to know he had inherited his mother's terrifying look.  
Rouge just laughed at this. "How was work?"

Rodger let out an involuntary growl at that, barring his teeth.

…"Not great." He told her after a few moments of silence. "Tensions are getting high between the town's people and the forest folk. They claimed another victim today just a child. Her body was discovered in the forest. They are looking for a scapegoat" So lost in thought he didn't even notice he had veered into unsafe territory. Rouge kicked his leg sharply under the table. "Role model," she reminded him.

Oops! Rodger looked over at Ace. The kid was staring at him intently, his grey eyes were wide.

"But you don't have to worry about stuff like that Big Bad!" Rodger said quickly try to derail the damage. "That's adult stuff."

"If its adult stuff then why did a kid die?" Ace challenged uselessly pushing his soup around, suddenly not hungry. Rodger looked at Rouge for help.

"Ace don't chew on your cutlery," she told him lightly hitting him with a dishrag as he tried to dismember his spoon. "Why don't you go upstairs and get ready for bed while your father and I finish up here."

Ace knew when he was being dismissed. He held his ground defiantly until his mother threatened to have him do the dishes for them if he stayed any longer. With a scowl he headed up the stairs.

"You too," Rouge told Rodger.

"Huh?"

She pointed to his quivering arm. "Why don't you go, I can finish up here."

"It's fine," he insisted covering his hand with an equally shaky one. She kissed him on his forehead. "Go." She told him firmly.

"Have I ever told you that you are the most wonderful creature I have ever met?"

She smiled. "Yes but I would keep it up if I were you. There might even be some dessert waiting for you when you get back."

He smiled at that as he rose, heading for the back door of their tiny house. The two of them had built it themselves. Finding the perfect place on the outskirts of town but far enough away from the woods not to arouse suspicion.

He slammed the door behind him harder the he meant to, loosening his clothes as he left. As the familiar towering trees of the forest came into view he broke into a run. Patches of fur breaking out across his soft human skin.

It was a dark story really. After a lifelong struggle he had finally acquired the allegiance of the wolves, most of them anyways. He ruled them, he was their king. And he used that power for one thing and one thing alone. To try and bring peace to the species. But there were still some that opposed him, his mind flashed to the grisly image of the little girl. Although he had won over the wolves what was proving a larger problem now were the humans. The number of human casualties were dropping rapidly. Still they didn't seem to take the hint and the bodies of the wolves were piling up one after another. Due to the lack of enemies the hunter ranks were stronger then ever and they used this new found power to kill his fellow kin. And for every dead brother or sister the wolves blamed him. They were growing desperate. And so was he.

And that's where Rouge came in. Just a mere human woman. Yet she had so much pull over him. From the moment he met her he realized he was already in love with her. Never had he met a creature so soft and kind nor as strong and fiery. He fell for her…hard. And by some kind a miracle she returned that love, despite the fact he was a monster. It was her that told him that if he wanted peace he would need to convince the humans as well. Talk to them, get to know them and eventually win them over, like he had done with her. She was his muse, his number one supporter. His plan was laughably bad, impossible even. But somehow she made him feel like he could do anything. So with her help he had gotten himself a small job at the bottom of the humans hierarchy. From there he began working his way up with agonizing slowness. He had managed to catch the eye of hunters and politicians alike for his wisdom and strength. Contacts...all very important, or at least they would be when he secret was revealed and the wrath of human hell rained down on him. Hopefully it would be enough to convince them, show them a better path.

The only problem now was this accursed human body. Maintaining his human form all day was proving to be too great a strain. He didn't have enough human in his DNA for him to comfortably pose as a human. His mind flashed enviously to Ace. The kid didn't even know what he had yet. He was the most perfect hybrid Rodger had ever seen. Despite the slight overbalance of human DNA in Ace's blood he was a flawless mixture. Able to seamlessly shift between either form on a whim. If he desired he could stay in his human or wolf body for the rest of his life without any discomfort. But from what Rodger observed Ace preferred to switch constantly between the two, although Rouge always made him be human at the dinner table. 'To teach him manners,' she claimed. Rodger smiled at the thought.

Ace was all the proof he needed. A physical embodiment of his and Rouge's love and everything they had worked for, their dreams and hopes for the future all rolled up into one mischievous brave and rebellious little child.

Living proof wolves and humans could co-exists. And one day when that little kid grew up he would help flip the world on it's head.

 **XXX**

Miles away on the other end of town a baby slept soundly.

He was born two weeks early and painfully thin and tiny. Still due to the ever constant care of his mother and grandmother he had survived and stabilized. Now barely a month old he was the happiest baby Makino had ever seen. She rocked him as she chatted with her mother pleasantly. The sweet women had come down to help her with the burden of being a mother. Although even she had to admit Makino was a natural at it. She seemed to instinctively know what to do.

"Are you sure about the name?" Her mother asked skeptically.

Maniko nodded. "It suits him don't you think?"

"I guess… but don't you think Howard would have been a good name?"

Makino laughed at that. "Mother I keep telling you we are not naming him after father, rest his soul."

Her mother nodded with a huff as she sunk further into her seat. "Say let his grandmother hold the little tyke."

Makino passed the sleeping bundle over to her mother as she rose to reheat their by now frigid dinner. It was a little after midnight and her husband had yet to make an appearance. She had overheard about the child found in the woods today so she was not surprised by his disappearance.

"Actually mother." She said as she returned to her seat. "We have something to ask you. I was waiting for Dragon but I am sure he will be along shortly."

Her mother looked up intrigued. The little baby fidgeted in her arms slowly waking up, not wanting to miss the action happening around him.

"We wanted to ask you to be Luffy's guardian. Should anything happen to me or Dragon we were hoping he could go live with you…" She trailed off as her mother stood up suddenly. Tears brimming in her eyes as she hugged her daughter tightly, minding the baby.

"Nothing would make happier." She whispered in her daughter's ear.

Makino laughed with delight as she leaned down to kiss her baby's cheek. Two huge dark eyes greeted her as the little kid reached up to try and poke her cheek.

"What about Garp?" The older woman questioned.

A new voice chimed in. "We figure the longer we can delay that meeting the better."

Makino looked up in surprise at her husband. He was taking his coat off in the doorway. He looked weary and tired but nothing a good meal couldn't fix. She handed over the little bundle in her arms with a kiss on his cheek as she went to go get dinner out of the oven.

Immediately after being handed off the tiny baby began to wiggle making unsatisfied noises. When his mother didn't come for him he began to cry unhappily.

"He always cries when I hold him," Dragon mused as he held the kid away from him.

"He just likes his mother." Makino's mother teased. "You always have such a scary face. Maybe if you smiled more." She rose to take the child from Dragon so he could finish unlacing his boots.

"I like your serious face dear," Makino offered kindly. "Now come have some dinner. Before it gets even colder."

"What do you think mom?" Makino mused. "Does he look more like me or Dragon?"

"He will be handsome like his daddy when he grows up." She answered, gently poking his nose earning herself a joyful laugh. "But until then he looks like Makino. Isn't that right little one?" She asked Luffy.

Makino had met Dragon during high school and the two had instantly hit it off. At first glance they seemed like an odd pairing but it soon became clear they were good for each other. Makino grounded Dragon, kept him stable. While Dragon protected and cared for Makino in a way nobody had before. He saw her for her inner beauty and kindness better than anyone. She was his guiding light and he was her faithful companion.

"So Dragon, how's work?"

"Actually mom," Makino laid her hand over her husband's. "He is up for a promotion. He passed the test to become the headhunter a couple of days ago. Any day now the current head will step down and give him the job.

"Wow!" She said thoughtfully. "Impressive for such a young man." That was no easy task. With a job such as that Dragon would have power over the entire town. It was not surprising really. He had been working for it since he was a little kid. With natural talent such as his everyone knew it would be him. The actual test and ceremony was more of a formality.

"It's nothing," Dragon said into his dinner plate, not use to all the attention nor praise.

"What about little Luffy? Will he be a hunter when he grows up?"

"I think one hunter is plenty for a family of three." Makino spoke gently but firmly. "I need someone to stay home with me while I worry over my brave husband."

"Probably for the best." The older woman said. "He has kind eyes. Best to protect something like that."

 **XXX (Because it was Christmas Sunday and it's cute dammit!)**

 **ASL First Christmas together-**

 **(Luffy has only been living with them for a few weeks)**

"Does this look good?" Sabo asked unsurely holding up the cake for the younger boy to see.

"Umm!" Luffy said with a bob of his head. "How did you get so good at baking?"

"I'm really not that good." Sabo promised wiping his hands on his pants unsurely. Maybe he would be better at it when he got a little older but for now it was passible. "I read about it in a book. It's called Christmas cake. It's a human tradition…" he trailed off when he realized who he was talking too. "Have you had it before?"

Luffy only shrugged as he stood on his toes to see it better. "Maybe when I was really little. But not for a while."

Sabo imagined a bunch of hunters hemming and hawing over a stove fretting whether their Christmas fruit cake was too brown or not. He would have laughed out loud if he hadn't remembered Luffy's less than generous description of the men. From what he understood there was absolutely nothing funny about hunters.

Things were a little awkward here too say the least. Sabo was a little unsure how to react to the change. He had grown used to it just being him and Ace sort of doing their own thing. Having grown up alone they quickly learned it was best to only confide in yourself. Even after they had started living together they never forgot the important life lesson. It had been drilled into their heads from such a young age. But ever since this tiny human came to stay with them they couldn't do that anymore.

Sure they had tried. When he had healed enough to move about again they had expected him to go entertain himself...which he had. What they hadn't counted on was him getting totally and completely lost in wolf infested woods. Thankfully they found him in time. That incident had forced them to lay down some ground rules. He could come and go as he pleased as long as he kept the house in sight. Somehow this had caused him to get even more lost. They had found him miles away and sleeping in a tree. So until they figured something out they told him to stay in the yard, which worked until he got into a fight with a deer. Finally after accidentally setting the porch on fire they told him to stay in the house… although Sabo felt he was covering for Ace with that last one. It took another ten accidental incidents for them to realize that maybe he shouldn't be left unattended. He seemed to be a trouble magnet, it was a good thing he was pretty indestructible by human standards at least.

Because of that Ace and Sabo were forced to break their independent little routine and come together to keep this kid alive. That's where the idea of Christmas had come from. Just a good idea to keep the fragile human occupied. Plus Sabo figured it might be good for them. They had precious little to celebrate in their lifetimes. Might as well take advantage of the opportunity. He had hoped something like this would make Ace calm down a bit. Ever since he had saved the human he was acting really odd. He avoided Luffy at every chance he got and when they were forced into a room together he would settle for simply avoiding his gaze. Usually Sabo would categorize the behavior as guilt but in all the years he had known Ace he couldn't remember ever seeing him act guilty. He had tried to confront him about it but for the first time in their relationship Ace refused to tell him.

This resulted more often than not with Sabo being ditched with babysitting duty. And he had absolutely no idea what to do. He had never been in a room with a human child before let alone actually having to look after it. So when Luffy had casually told them about Christmas season Sabo had jumped.

Together he and Luffy had made Christmas decorations, strung together lines of popcorn and nuts and decorated a juvenile pine tree that grew next to the porch. They had occasionally gotten Ace to help as well and for the first time the three of them came together. It was...fun, something Sabo hadn't had for a while.

His thoughts were interrupted as the door thudded. Ace reappeared with an arm full of firewood that he used to feed the oven with.

"What is that?" He asked pointing to the cake.

"Is it really that bad?" Sabo asked inspecting it.

"It smells like salt."

Sabo turned to the human. "Are you sure you didn't mix salt and sugar up?"

"Is there a difference?"

'A disaster in the kitchen as well,' Sabo added it to his mental list of things Luffy wasn't allowed to do. However this time he was able to see the humor in it.

"Guess that answers that question huh?"

Ace's lips twitched but he turned before they could see him grin.

"Well I guess more for me then huh?" Sabo bated as he made a motion as if he was going to swallow it in one bite. He watched in amusement as Ace and Luffy objected together retrieving their salty Christmas cake. Apparently nobody here was very picky. He gathered they had all eaten much worse at one point in their lives.

"Stay there for a second okay?" Luffy said running out of the kitchen towards their shared room.

"Where would we go?" Ace questioned. Sabo just shrugged.

"Hey Ace…"

"Don't ask."

"What?" Taken back by the seriousness in his friend's voice.

"I know what you're going to ask. Trust me you don't want to know."

Sabo bit his lip silently contemplating what to do. "Fine," he said after a long silence. "But you can't keep ignoring him like this, not if he is going to live with us. So either get it off your chest of get over it."

A minute passed and Sabo thought Ace wasn't going to answer but he finally caved.

"Okay."

Sabo smiled at the small victory. That was a start.

Luffy reappeared moments later with what looked like two wads of newspaper. He handed one to Ace and the other to Sabo. "Merry Christmas!"

Sabo threw a questioning glance at Ace who only shrugged uncertainly. He felt something hard beneath the crinkled paper so he began to hesitantly peel it back. Blue...Glass...Goggles?

He looked questioningly over to Luffy.

"Now you can go in the sun without it hurting your eyes." He told him grinning widely. Sabo turned back to the goggles turning them over in his hand oddly touched. They were old and damaged, he could see where the human had tried to patch them up. Whenever he would go outside with Luffy during the day he remembered complaining the sun hurt his eyes. He never imagined he would take it to heart.

"Do you like it?"

He ran his fingers over the smooth glass lenses one last time before fastening it around his hat. "I love it." He said causing Luffy to smile.

Besides him Ace was unsure. He bit his lip, the familiar expression of guilt back on his face as his grip tightened on the newspaper. He tried to give it back to Luffy but the kid wouldn't accept.

"You don't have to keep it." He told him. "But it's for you."

Ace frowned, consigned to his fate, as he removed the newspaper wrapping. Red beads, clumsily tied together to form a necklace.

"Thank...you."

Luffy smiled satisfied before he did something completely unexpected.

He hugged them. For the first time in Sabo's entire life someone hugged him and his mind went blank. He had never so much as seen a hug in real life, vampires certainly did not partake in such 'vulgar displays of affection' as they put it. Up until now he had sort of believed they were only reserved as literary devices for the fairytales he read on occasion. But here they were in the dim light of the kitchen with this very real flesh and blood human who had his thin arms wrapped around the two of them like it was perfectly natural.

Sabo very much doubted the three species had ever had a group hug like this at any point in history. Not only could he sense Luffy's heartbeat but he could feel it as well as the tiny humans chest was pressed against his ribs. He imagined what his parents would say if they could see this. He was sure it would be something along the lines of, "Indecent, inappropriate, and improper." Vampires after all did not embrace their food nor their sworn enemies the wolves who was squished against Sabo's right side and also appeared to be frozen in shock.

"Thank you for letting me stay with you!" Luffy said smiling up at them. "And even though I cause you guys trouble and I always get lost and I mix salt up with sugar you guys never lock me in the closet or abandon me in the woods." He squeezed them tighter, pulling both the deathly still bodies closer towards him. "Shishishi, you guys are the best!" With that he let go of the two shocked kids and headed out of the kitchen.

Ace and Sabo stared stupidly after him for a few moments before Sabo rubbed his hands nervously over his arms, unsure of how to respond. He didn't know how to describe that other than strange...and warm. A good warm though, not like the stinging heat of the sun but a calm warm.

He glanced over at Ace, "So yea….let's…umm"

"Uhhh...yea?" Ace responded back, having no clue to what they were talking about.

The two left the kitchen. Sabo hiding partially behind Ace in case it tried to hug them again.

 **XXX**

 *****The gifts Luffy gave Ace and Sabo were fished from one of those human junk piles I mentioned in earlier chapters. That's why Luffy got so lost when they told him to stay near the house. Ace's gift you can see in the story picture but the claws he added himself later.**

 **Sorry if you guys thought this chapter ran a little long considering nothing happened. But I was trying to give a picture of the home life before things start to get serious, which they will. I wanted to do little kid Sabo also but it was kind of sad and this chapter is already quite long but more on that later. ASL Christmas took place before the flashback where Luffy was sick (you can tell they are much more used to him then, seeing as they can touch him without freaking out) and after the scene where Luffy and Sabo meet for the first time. Similarly Luffy meeting Garp takes place a few months after Makino asking her mother to be his guardian. Sorry if it's confusing , I think I made it worse by trying to explain it. But I promise there is an order! I hope you guys like it. Please tell me what you thought!**

 **...**

 **Lostdog200:** I'm really glad you liked it! I never know how they will be received so it is a relief! As for what happened to Luffy they got into it a little bit in this chapter but the worst has yet to come for both Ace and Luffy. Thank you for the review! Your enthusiasm for the story always makes me so happy :)

 **Izzywing:** Me too! I love possessive Ace and protective Ace and Sabo. Especially with tops off! I'm really glad you like the story! Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter as well! Thank you for the review :)

 **Destiny TRodrigu:** Yes! Absolutely. As soon as I can. I hope you liked it! Thank you for the review!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes on last chapter: vampires don't do physical contact! It can happen between children and their parents or siblings but not in public and nobles do not have any part in it. Wolves do hug/cuddle and partake in general wolf social behavior. Ace has been hugged before by his mom and even Luffy. Chapter 14 was just Ace being weird about it. More on this later!**

 ***** It's not addressed in this chapter but they were only watching Chopper for a day or two and he went back home already**

 **Things are going to heat up quickly so I wanted one more carefree chapter to take a break from the tension. So I am going to try and do a fluff chapter with minimal plot which would be (aside from Never again) a first for me. Please tell me what you think**

 **XXX**

Ace loved his brothers, he really did. But right now he had some mixed feelings. He tried in vain the wiggle his shoulders free finally giving up with a sigh as the rope didn't so much as budge. He opted to instead wiggle his freckled nose in attempts to relieve the horrible itch. There was a leaf stuck to the tip of his nose and no matter how hard he shook his head it refused to fall, it was probably held in place by a dot of tree sap. If he had to guess he would say it was a poison oak leaf but he wasn't a tree expert. He could always ask Sabo but seeing as he was most likely the one who put it there that seemed counterproductive. Since he was a wolf he doubted it would do much to him although after ten minutes it was unbelievably itchy. It would of course be no problem normally but since his 'oh so wonderful' brothers had tied him to a tree things were a little harder.

Normal siblings just resolved arguments with shouting and tattling but no, the three of them could never do things the easy way. Although he had admit he did have a hand in this escalating so quickly. Ever since they were little he and Sabo had always been really competitive with each other. As such they refused to be outdone by the other which led to them accidently dragging Luffy into this as well. Ace had no doubt his little brother had taken part in this as well. They were conspiring against him. He stood silently for a good ten minutes thinking of all the horrible ways he was going to get back at them. Unfortunately all the classics had been pulled already meaning he would either have to resolve this and admit defeat or get really really creative.

After another few minutes passed all he could seem to focus on was the itch on the tip of his nose. He would happily give his entire nose away just to be rid of that godawful sensation. People could live without noses right? It would put a serious dent in his freckle population but that was a risk he was willing to take. After trying to mentally will the leaf to fall away he gave up.

"Sabo come here!"

He was met with only silence.

"I know your there!" He insisted angrily. "I can smell you, come here already!

The bushes didn't so much as rustle as his brother appeared before him silent as mouse. Freaking vampires, Ace rolled his eyes. No doubt Sabo was sticking close waiting for him to concede.

"What?" Sabo asked crossing his arms over his chest. "Ready to give up?"

"Never!"

"Then what, planning your revenge already?"

"Not quite. I can't think of anything adequate so I move to end our pranking war."

"So you do surrender?"

"Never!"

"Overruled."

"Hear me out!" Ace insisted. "Neither of us are going to back down. Remember how this ended last time?" Sabo shuttered. "You know how much I hate being the logical one.."

"You just don't want to be tied to a tree all night!" Sabo protested cutting Ace off.

"Yes," he agreed. "But you have to admit we tend to go overboard."

Sabo snorted, "Rich words coming from you, you were the one who started it in the first place."

"What! No I wasn't, it was you!"

"Yes you were! You filled the pantry with a family of deer! So when we went to open it we got trampled.

Ace smiled fondly at the memory. Their faces were priceless and they had gotten dinner out of it so he had seen it as a win-win situation. Sabo who had gotten kicked in the face did not share his view. If he had to guess that prank was probably why his brothers had allied together and tied him to a tree during one of his narcoleptic attacks.

"Don't act so innocent! The night before that you turned off the lanterns and rearranged the furniture so Luffy would trip!" This, he realized, might not be his strongest argument considering he had helped him do it. They had a lot of fun trying to conceal their laughs as the poor human bumped into and tripped over just about everything they owned. Usually Luffy was able to get around their home well enough when the lanterns were off just by memory but this time Sabo barricaded the hallways with the furniture and set up a maze in the living room with the kitchen chairs. Their plan had backfired five minutes in when Luffy had decided it wasn't worth the struggle and had simply fallen asleep on the living room floor.

"I had to!" Sabo insisted. "It was revenge for him super gluing plastic Halloween fangs in my mouth when I was sleeping."

"It's your fault for not noticing until breakfast you dork." His surprised face when he bit into his toast made it all worthwhile.

"It took me two hours to pull them out!" He protested.

"I had nothing to do with that one," Ace said innocently.

"Of course, you were too busy planning my Viking funeral!"

Which had of course been epic. Ace had set him adrift in a wooden raft in the middle of the pond near their house. Per tradition he prepared a wonderful eulogy and when all was said and done he played the bagpipes while Luffy shot a flaming arrow. It was just like the legends foretold except for Luffy's arrows weren't on fire or even sharp they were just practice arrows and Ace had no idea what bagpipes were? So he instead settled for some form of annoying trumpet he found in the cellar. They once again hit a snag as even with all that racket Sabo still didn't wake up.

Vampires don't need much sleep in general. But when they do sleep it's like the dead. It's when their most vulnerable to hunters and wolves so they were usually pretty cautious about how they went about it. This was how Ace and Luffy were able to carry their brother all the way to the pond and set him sailing on the tiny raft. Maybe they should have realized that if he didn't wake up to that then Ace's horrible trumpet skills wouldn't do the trick either. Fortunately for them as Ace and Luffy argued over what to do the crappy raft sprang a leak drowning its inhabitant. Or as Ace liked to think 'taking him to spend eternity with Valhalla." Only apparently Valhalla didn't want Sabo as the cold water did the trick and he woke up sputtering in a freezing lake at five o'clock in the mourning.

"We were just getting back at you for hiding our mattress!"

"It wasn't even hidden! It was on the roof! But you guys didn't even bother looking for it you just went to bed in the empty bedframe. Besides it was payback for Luffy talking all my clothes and stringing them up in the tallest tree he could find!"

"Those were my clothes too!" Ace protested, he was still finding pine needles in his shorts. "I actually had nothing to do with that one." He was off planning a completely different prank.

"It was a pre-emptive strike." Sabo told him seriously.

"Well he only did that to get back at you for dumping a bucket of…catnip was it? On him."

"That was meant for you you jerk!" Sabo insisted.

Knowing Ace's aversion to all things cat he had collected a bucket full of wild catnip and ground it down nearly into powder. He had precariously placed the bucket on an open doorframe so it would fall when the door was fully opened. What he had failed to notice was Luffy had gotten back from wood cutting and had accidently sprung the prank before Ace got the chance to. Which was what had dragged him into the prank war in the first place. Unable to tell which of his siblings had done it he retaliated against both of them.

"Well that was payback against you for the thing with the pliers!"

"Which only happened because of the squirrel incident!"

"Well maybe I wouldn't have but peanut butter in your pockets if you didn't glue my hand to my soup bowl."

The two stared at each other for a minute realizing they had reached the end of their long list of grievances.

"You did start it!" Sabo said accusingly.

"No I didn't!" Ace said feeling his cheeks flush. This was possibly due to how badly he wanted to pull the leaf from his nose.

"Yes you did! I didn't do anything to you before that."

"Yes you did!"

"Do share with the class dear brother."

"You broke my mug!"

Sabo stared at him for a second before breaking out into laughter. Only making Ace's blush grow. "Is that what this is really about?"

"It's a good mug," Ace muttered turning away to hide his embarrassment. He hadn't meant to tell Sabo that, the heat of the moment had compelled him.

"It was by accident."

"I know," Ace said feeling like he was ten years old again having a, who-done-it argument.

It was just a mug after all. Ace hadn't meant to start a war, all he had done was avenge his favorite mug with a light coating of glue on Sabo's bowl. Which in turn prompted Sabo to put a bit of peanut butter in his pockets which had coincidentally attracted all the hungry squirrels in the area and things had spiraled from there.

"Wow," Sabo said thoughtfully "we really are self-destructive." Who would have thought something so simple as an elbow bump would lead to an animal stampede and them retrieving their clothes from the top of a tree.

"I'm still not willing to admit defeat," Sabo said sharply.

Ace nodded, "same but there might be another option."

"Do tell."

"Truce"

"I'm listening?"

"First get this damn leaf off my nose! I am about to lose it. Then go get Luffy, this is going to require all of us."

Sabo nodded reaching out to pick the accursed thing away from Ace. As he turned to leave, apparently not forgiving enough to untie him yet, he paused.

"Oh I forgot. I was meaning to tell you then all this craziness started." He waved his hands vaguely around them. "We fixed it."

"Huh?"

"Your mug of course. Lu helped. It was mostly in one piece so we would have just glued it but the glue mysteriously vanished, so we just welded it back together"

"Really? That worked."

"No," Sabo admitted. That made it worse, it turns out you can't weld ceramic stuff. But we did find an old can of carnation milk in the pantry. Apparently that's what Luffy's grandma used to repair cracked plates and what not. We sealed it back together and let it dry in the sun. It looks a little worse for wear but all round it still works.

Ace stared at him in surprise. He was touched his brothers would go this far for him. "Thank you."

Sabo shrugged taking Ace's knife in order to cut the ropes. "It was only fair. Besides it was your mom's favorite mug right."

The second Ace was free his viciously rubbed his nose with his palm. "You knew?"

He nodded, "It's not like you to get sentimental over things like that…or in general."

"So I guess I really did start it then."

"Eh," He shrugged again. "Its fine. I'm willing to share blame on this one. Just promise me something."

"Yes?"

"If you ever happen upon a memento from my parents…"

"Burn it?" Ace guessed.

"To a crisp." Sabo agreed.

"Deal."

 **XXX**

"Ready?" Ace asked his siblings unsurprised when Sabo was the only one who responded.

"Let's do it!" He said enthusiastically.

Ace handed him the radio. "Make us proud."

Sabo clutched the radio close to his mouth drawing out a feint whispering hiss that quickly became distorted and full of static.

A few beats passed before a static filled voice came over the speaker.

" _Did you hear that?"_

" _Hear what?"_

" _Never mind."_

Ace and Sabo smiled wickedly at each other while Luffy stayed still, firmly pressed against Ace's side and less than thrilled about this.

The three of them were currently perched in a huge tree sitting tentatively on one of its extensive branches. They had chosen this branch in particular as it had the best view of the cabin beneath them while still remaining well out of eyesight and concealed in the shadows. With their predatory vision Ace and Sabo had no problem seeing what was happening below them with the foolish humans. Luffy more so but he wasn't paying attention anyways.

After a few moments of radio silence Sabo brought it back to his lips repeating the sound only a little louder this time.

" _Did you hear that?"_

" _You're hearing things Jeff."_

Ace shook his head in fake sympathy for Jeff and whatever poor souls had night shift. Things were going to get much worse for them. Then again they were hunters so they deserved whatever they got. In the last few weeks the hunters had gotten so bold as to set up a night watch station at the edge of the forest. Everyone knew that the outskirts were buffer territory and the occasional stomping ground for packs looking to extend their area. They were NOT supposed to be used by hunters to kick start their dream of dominating the forest.

When the three of them got together a few days earlier all Ace had was a plan but no one to execute it on. Which was the easy part as the boys had lists of people they would like to terrorize. The vampires nobles had been a popular choice but with war about to break out they had to be very careful about how they executed this. Instead they opted for more stable ground. They weren't taking on any major players, just messing with some incompetent and undertrained recruits. On top of that it would hopefully get them out of trouble for helping the humans a couple weeks back. At the very least it would get them back to neutral territory in the war.

Ace watched as Sabo made the noise again this time at normal volume.

" _Okay I definitely heard something this time."_

" _Me too!"_

" _Keep it together you guys, are we professionals or not?"_

Ace scoffed at that. Professional idiot's maybe. Sabo handed it over to Ace who growled convincingly.

" _What is that!"_

" _It sounded like it came from over there!"_

" _Are you deaf? It was from there!"_

Not that those idiots could know but it was coming from all over. Earlier that day they had broken in and stolen all the radios hiding them around the base to broadcast whatever exotic sounds they chose to share.

The two of them did it together this time enjoying the high pitched scream they managed to draw from the one called Jeff.

" _It's everywhere!"_

" _What are those things?"_

" _Were surrounded!"_

" _Your weapons men get the guns!"_

Ace covered his mouth to keep from cracking up as he watched them run around, smashing into each other in their haste to flail around more.

Another loud wail sounded across the radio system.

" _The salt? Should we get the salt?"_

" _Don't be an idiot! What would we use salt for?"_

" _D-d-doesn't it keep spirits away."_

" _Del! Shut up!"_

"Does the coast look clear?" Sabo asked retrieving the large stones from a lower branch. Ace nodded, "go for it."

Lugging the pillow case behind him Sabo gracefully made his way along the length of the branch to where it hung a few meters over the cabins roof. He dropped the first stone hearing the satisfying thud and the shrieks of fear below.

" _Their trying to get in!"_

" _Who?"_

" _This is it for us!"_

" _Hold your ground men!"_

Sabo dumped the rest out watching as they drummed on the roof like angry rain.

" _Call HQ! We need back up."_

Why they hadn't thought of this earlier was anyone's guess. Ace stood by his initial observation that they were in deed idiots. At the thought of more of them showing up here Luffy pressed further against Ace who put his arm around him.

"It's okay." He comforted his little brother. "We cut the phone lines remember." A fact that the hunters discovered for themselves a few minutes later.

" _The phones are dead! We're sitting ducks."_

" _Pull yourself together John for goodness sake your supposed to be our fearless leader!"_

" _The flair gun, fire the flair!"_

There was silence for a few moments before a loud bang sounded, shaking the cabin.

" _Not inside you idiot!"_

" _I'm not going out there! Are you crazy!"_

" _AHH! Jeff you've doomed us all, you set the curtains on fire!"_

"How is that not funny?" Ace asked. Luffy who thought everything was hilarious but didn't think any of this was worth even a smile. Not that he wasn't expecting this. Luffy loved pranks as much as the next person but the moment they mentioned the word hunter he opted out. They were planning to leave him out of this particular one when Sabo suggested it might be good for Luffy. 'Some good old fashion payback.' As he called it. He pointed out that maybe if Luffy confronted his fear, slowly and under different circumstances he might get better at dealing with them.

Sabo made his way back to the trunk, handing Luffy his bow. "You're up."

He made no effort to move, just stared up at them the way he always did when he didn't want to do something.

"Come on Lu, you could take them on blindfolded. Their idiots." Ace told him.

Sabo thought for a moment, "I'll give you my meat at dinner tomorrow."

Apparently that did the trick as Luffy took the bow from him sliding along the branch. Doing it right this time Ace set the arrow on fire handing it to Luffy by its head.

Lying on his stomach he lined up his shot with the crack in the window, pulling the string to his cheek he let the arrow fly. Whizzing so fast they could barely see it as it crashed through the window and landed in the middle of the room much to the hunters shock.

" _It's a demons!"_

" _We must defend the base!"_

" _Screw that give me the keys John!"_

The three men nearly tripped over themselves in their rush to get to the truck outside. What they failed to notice was that the tires were slashed.

" _Every man for himself!"_

Del cried as he attempted to hop in the seat only to scream!

" _It's a severed head! The trucks are compromised help me!"_

It was in fact a Halloween decoration which he would have realized if he looked closer.

" _Run you idiot RUUUN!"_

Shooting their guns at nothing in particular the lumbering men tore through the trees towards town screaming about monsters on their ass.

"You know their right when they say you live for the little things in life." Ace said appreciatively as the three of them scrambled down the tree.

Sabo nodded in agreement as he ruffled Luffy's hair.

"Good job Lu," I think you gave them the final send off. Luffy smiled back at them, the first one they had seen all night.

"Come on," Sabo said kneeling down a little bit. "Climb on, I want to get home fast."

"Same," Ace shivered. "We missed dinner."

"A necessary evil." Sabo told him as they began walking.

"Good job by the way." Sabo said after a few minutes.

"Huh?" Ace asked confused. "With what?"

"Not going all crazy on the hunters."

Ace cast a confused look at his brother. "I don't go 'all crazy' on people."

"Sure."

"I don't!" Ace insisted.

"You do when he's involved."

Ace didn't need to ask who Sabo was referring too. He cast a sharp glance at Luffy to make sure he was asleep. No surprise there, it was nearly five in the morning, they had been at this for nearly twenty four hours. The sun would be rising soon.

Ace lowered his voice regardless, "Did he know any of them?"

Sabo shrugged. Careful not to jostle his shoulders too much. "I don't know I couldn't tell. If he did I don't think it was very well."

Ace nodded mulling it over.

"Are you going to run after them?" Sabo teased.

Ace snorted. "I think they would die of fright it they met an actual wolf. They couldn't even handle radio static and Halloween props. Besides I don't think you're allowed to lecture me about being over protective."

Sabo nodded, "That's fair but I'm just regular protective you're all wolf protective."

"What does that even mean?"

"You know," Sabo gave his brother a sly smile.

Ace groaned regretting for the thousandth time he had told Sabo about that. It was a moment of weakness when didn't know who else to go to. Mostly because there was no one else. Although supportive Sabo enjoyed teasing him about it repeatedly through the years. Although thankfully he had never let it slip.

When they were ten years old he had accidently imprinted on Luffy. Which sounds a lot more sinister then it really was. Not that he had any control over it in the first place. In wolf culture it roughly translated to 'if Luffy dies he's screwed.' Of course it goes a lot deeper than that. But the basic premise was whenever he was in danger, threatened or scared Ace would get all 'wolf protective' as Sabo dubbed it and go on a chomping spree.

Of course that being said whenever one of them was in trouble Sabo would go into full on Vampire noble mode which Ace personally found much more terrifying. But until they invented a word for that Ace was stuck being the odd one. But after all those years of trying to ignore it, being mean to him and picking fights he had finally gotten over it. He was fine with it now as well as whatever his weird wolf brain threw at him. They were family after all no matter how complicated things got ad that's all he cared about.

 **XXX**

 **A more In Depth description of imprinting:**

 **Platonic or romantic an intense emotional connection for a wolf to another wolf or a human that exceeds typical relationships. No two imprints are the same as each wolf feels something slightly different towards their imprinted. Wolves can have more than one but it's rare and never more the two or three. It's kind of like soul-mates for wolves. A wolf imprinting on a wolf is more common and wolf/human imprinting is generally frowned upon as it puts the wolf in danger. Imprinting of any kind is dangerous for the wolf if: The imprinted doesn't return the feelings, they get separated somehow or something happens to the imprinted. Since human beings are weaker and less accepting of wolves it is common knowledge that loving a human will only lead to heartbreak for the wolf. The effects of this very for each wolf but it's never good. *** Note: Rodger imprinted on Rouge.**

 **For Ace it's not romantic (sorry those who wanted that). Like for all wolves he didn't do it on purpose it just happened. It is buried in his instincts so even though his parents never explained it to him he knew it when he felt it. It happened the first time Luffy hugged Ace. Like I said at the top this was not the scene we saw last chapter, it took place before that.**

 ***** Jeff is my older brother who I don't get along with (cause he is the worst), John is my mortal enemy/ evil twin in grade school and Del is my 12** **th** **grade sexist math teacher (All my least Favorite people) I couldn't help but throw that in when I needed names.)**

 **Tell me what you thought**


	16. Chapter 16

**So I promised that the story would take off after the fluff chapter. Sorry this chapter is so late. I realize I am apologizing a lot lately for increasingly late chapters so to make up for it I will make this chapter the longest by far.**

 **While writing this chapter my baby bunny Momochi got horribly sick and I had to find a way to get him to a vet without a phone, internet or a car. Thank god my new neighbors took pity on me. Anyway I told him he is too cute to die and he seemed to take that into consideration as he is on the mend but if anyone has any bunny wisdom to impart on me it would be much obliged.**

 **XXX**

Luffy clutched tighter to Ace's pelt as the two of them flew through the forest as quickly as Ace could manage, which was quite fast. It was still early in the night, the sun would not be rising for a long time. Luffy gritted his teeth at the though. It was going to be a long night not to mention an incredibly stressful one. He pressed his chest into Ace's back trying to stay flat like Sabo had taught him, something about wind current or what not, so Ace could go faster. He twisted his fingers further into the black fur trying to keep his grip as Ace jumped over a fallen tree trunk.

Ace shuttered beneath him, giving off a deep growl from the back of his throat as he charged forwards.

Confused Luffy looked back behind him at the darkened tree line. As far as he could tell the forest was still.

"Ace?" He questioned.

Ace growled in reply the message clear. 'They were coming.' Ace's excellent ears picked up what Luffy's failed too.

"Can we beat them to it?" Luffy asked only for Ace to yap in response pressing his wearily legs on.

'We can try.'

Despite his older brother's insistence at remaining neutral in the coming war both of them were awfully quick to side with the humans. Or as Sabo explained it they were opposing the vampires, helping the humans was just an unfortunate byproduct.

Luffy frowned but remained silent. He wanted to help his friends and like his brothers he didn't want the stupid vampires to win. The wolves were nearly as bad but Sano said that it looked like they were being manipulated to do the dirty work in this particular scheme. Not that they weren't itching to shed some human blood even without the vampires encouragement. It was most likely that they knew they were being exploited and simply didn't care.

Sabo had said he would try to buy them time but Luffy had no idea what he was going to do. He felt worry coil in his stomach for his brother. But Sabo was the smart one, he was cautious and didn't take the same unnecessary risks Luffy and Ace were so fond of.

Ace's whine alerted Luffy that they were close. He looked up in surprise at the tiny outpost in front of them. Still just a tiny speck on the horizon but it was growing steadily lager as Ace pushed onwards.

It was the military watch station at the edge of town. It served as an early warning system against vampires and wolves should any try to enter town. The outpost had a direct link to the towns warning system which was exactly what Ace and Luffy needed.

The last few weeks had been calm, eerily so. Attacks on humans had dropped to zero and it seemed like both species were on their best behavior. This of course did not bode well with Sabo who recognized this behavior almost instantly. It hadn't been hard to find out what was up, it was hardly a secret. Law, on orders from Doflamingo was eliciting an uprising against humans. The newfound truce between the vampires and the wolves had inflated their already oversized superiority complex over the human village. The plan was to put an end to the worsening famine by storming the village and feasting on the humans until their stomachs were near bursting.

Of course there were many things wrong with this plan. The biggest one being that if they killed all the humans then they would actually starve. Then there was the issue of the furious reaction of both the military, government and hunters of the country if the village were to be overrun. Still they chose to ignore this.

Sure finding out the plan had been easy considering it was an open invitation slaughter but the boys had no clue when it was happening. They had considered giving the humans a heads up but it was unlikely they could get anyone to believe them, at least anyone important. Plus they would have to send Luffy off alone and it would require him eventually talking to the mayor and maybe his father and the mess that would create didn't seem worth it. So instead they kept their ears to the ground intently listening. It had been about one in the morning when Sabo raced in shaking the two of them awake, who up until that point were sleeping peacefully.

A low growl cut Luffy off from his thoughts as Ace slowed from his quick pace cautiously approaching the guard tower. Something was wrong. Luffy looked down at Ace who stared up at him grimly. Not a good sign.

Luffy frowned and slid off the wolf pulling his crossbow off his back as he approached the station.

'Don't,' Ace growled warningly.

Luffy ignored him as he approached the cabin, noticing the door was left open ajar. He nudged it wider with his bow cautiously scanning the room for any sign of movement. By the dim light of the moon he was able to make out what happened. He could see the dark silhouettes of unmoving bodies, barely recognizable. As the dim light reflected the pools of red splatted across the walls Luffy felt sick and looked away. So that's what Ace's warning had been about. He felt Ace's warm snout press into his palm reassuringly.

The vampires had beat them here. They wanted to take out the guard tower so the citizens had no warning. By the looks of it the men had not been given an easy death. Vampires were notoriously cruel when it came to playing with their prey.

'Luffy,' Ace reminded him patiently but urgently.

Luffy shook his head trying to clear his mind as he made his way across the room, trying his best to avoid the puddle. They had already tried to call for help he realized with a sinking heart. The control panel was blood soaked. It was no good, they had come prepared. The radio had been viciously ripped from the wall, the warning button was in a similar state and even the flare guns were missing.

He looked at Ace. What were they going to do now?

Ace gave a soft huff glancing around at the gruesome scene around them. They would have to alert the town the old fashioned way then. That would be challenging on its own but unfortunately for them it wouldn't be enough. The town needed more time than they could give them. Not only did the town's people have to hide but the hunters and military needed to be notified immediately.

Ace cast his sleepy grey eyes over the still bodies of the outpost guards. Dammit, they had sworn for months not to get involved. So what the actual hell were they doing out here? Ace held no fondness in his heart for humans, they were cowardly weaklings who prosecuted anything that didn't fit into their over simplistic world view. The same could be said about the wolves and the vampires. No species was innocent. In fact they all had this war coming from the sheer amount of times they screwed each other over. He and Sabo had been more than willing to stay out it.

But this was going too far. The two alpha species were teaming up to pick on the weakling race while their defenders were away. That was like attacking the den mother and the cubs while the pack was away. It would be one thing to attack the humans on the battle field and another to massacre them while they slept clueless and defenseless.

Ace felt Luffy's hand come to rest on his shoulder, silently asking him what they were going to do.

Ace knew he wasn't a good person. But he also knew he wasn't a monster. He had made that choice a long time ago. He was fairly confident that he was at least better than the hoard of wolves charging towards town right now. He would have to settle for just being decent.

'You go warn the town,' Ace communicated to his little brother as he rested his forehead against Luffy's. 'Try to find the military while you're at it.'

"What will you do?"

'Something stupid,' Ace thought to himself.

'Reinforcements.' He told Luffy. 'Do you remember where Sabo told us to meet?

"The caves?"

Ace nodded pulling back from his brother, he didn't have time to explain his half-baked plan. Not like he would want to.

'Don't be late.'

Luffy nodded seriously.

'Get going twerp.' Ace told him nudging him away with his snout.

Luffy nodded determined as he turned, running off down the hill towards the glow of the village's street lamps.

'Time to go be a decent person,' Ace thought sarcastically as he too turned away and started sprinting down the road. 'Hang on citizens two un-empathetic cretins and one idiotic-do-good-martyr are on their way.' If that didn't instill hope into someone's heart he didn't know what would.

 **XXX**

Luffy ran down the deserted streets. He had no idea how to alert an entire town. Should he start yelling or something? He doubted that would work. They would probably just yell at him to shut up. He wracked his brain trying to remember how it worked when he still lived here. He knew there was an alarm system that reached to the entire town. Every month they would have a practice drill. The only thing was he was pretty sure the system was automatic. He knew the guard posts had signals to activate the alarm but they were all no doubt trashed by the vampires. So who else would have one? The public help office maybe? Luffy glanced around. He had no idea where that was. Argh! He didn't have time for this. The wolves would be here soon, if it wasn't for the overly complicated plan they would no doubt be here already. But they were still shuffling into position. He knew the more time he could give the the better it would be. How was this so hard?

"Hey you there FREEZE!"

Luffy turned around in surprise, nearly blinded by a flashlight shining in his face.

"Who are you?"

"You don't get to ask the questions kid," The deep voice boomed. It sounded angry. "Are you aware that curfew was over three hours ago?"

"Huh," Luffy said confused. That's right the new curfew, no wonder things were so quiet.

The man sighed clearly annoyed. "Son I am a patrol officer and from the looks of it you are in a boatload of trouble."

Luffy grinned at that. "That's great!" He said enthusiastically running towards the man. "I need to tell you something. You have to sound the alarm!"

"What?"

"Vampires are attacking! Well probably wolves but the vampires organized it. Their surrounding the town and their going to get anyone who tries to escape."

The flashlight lowered off of Luffys face to his relief.

"Kid?"

"Yea?"

"Have you been drinking?"

"I'm serious! You have to hurry they will be here soon!"

"There is no such thing as vampires!" The man told him angrily stalking closer. "And if we really were being attacked the guard posts would know about it before some hooligan kid who thinks he is too good to follow the curfew rules." He grabbed Luffy's arm, attempting to pull him along.

"I'm serious! The wolves really are coming."

"Have you been talking to that Usopp kid? Just be a good boy and tell me where you live. Let's go have a little talk with your parents. I'm sure they will have a few choice words for you."

Luffy huffed in annoyance. He had forgotten what being treated like a kid was like. The adults in this town never listened to kids. Apparently they were too busy shoving sticks up their ass to hear anyone else's opinion. At least in the woods you were taken seriously, sure they might try to eat you after but they believed you regardless of your age. But not here.

Nobody in this town had ever believed him. They hadn't listened back then and they didn't listen now. They never changed.

He brought his leg around smashing his foot into the side of the man's head with surprising flexibility. The guard cried out in anger stumbling backwards as he let go of his arm in surprise.

It looked like he was on his own for this one.

"What the hell kid! Are you trying to get into even more trouble?"

He tried to grab Luffy again but the teen easily dodged kicking the man's knee making him stumble, trying to regain his balance.

Knocking the man out would be like a death sentence right now, but at the same time if he just ignored him he would no doubt chase him.

He watched as the man pulled out his baton trying to intimidate Luffy.

"Listen kid I don't want to have to...oomph." He cried out in alarm as Luffy kneed him in the stomach, tackling him to the ground. He tried to use his baton only for Luffy to easily dodge it pinning the man to the ground by his shoulders. The man tried to roll away and Luffy stood up, letting him go. He clambered to his feet more shocked that such a tiny kid had taken him down.

He reached down for his belt, probably going for the Taser gun but his fingers came back empty. His belt was gone. He looked down in disbelief as he fumbled around his waist.

Luffy held up the belt he was looking for. He had taken it when he pinned the man down in an attempt to stop him from calling for back up.

The man stared at him numbly for a second before he took a step back, realizing Luffy wasn't a normal kid.

Luffy turned to leave, content he had scared the man into leaving him alone.

"Who are you?" The guard questioned making Luffy smile. That sounded like a cheesy line from an action movie his dad used to watch where some surprisingly old action star uses his awesome yet inaccurate karate moves to take down an unsuspecting dumb witted police man. And then they always had an awesome line like 'your worst nightmare' or something.

Luffy wracked his brain trying to remember something cool to say.

"Jack, Jack Bond."

"What?"

That didn't really sound right, Luffy had the strong feeling he had messed up the line somewhere but he really didn't have time for this. He once again began running wondering how much time Sabo would be able to buy him and Ace.

Luffy did know where one of the buttons was, although he was sort of hoping it wouldn't come to this. But they were counting on him to do this so it wasn't like he had much choice. He pulled the hood over his head and set off for the center of town. His grandpa had taken him to work a few times. He hoped he could remember the way.

City hall, at the very heart of the town. When he was a kid he had always hated going there because it was boring. Now he hated going there because it was overrun with hunters, military personnel and people who thought he was dead. Luffy really didn't want to go but he knew this wasn't debatable. He had to do his best to try and save the town. He knew despite their grumbling his brothers would come through and make the impossible a reality. Compared to what they had to do pushing a stupid button was really easy. And they would never let him down. He had to hurry up and do this so he would be on time to their meet up spot. Then the three of them could go back to bed.

Speaking of his brothers Luffy felt lightheaded, he had stumbled over his feet more than a few times tonight. Sabo had surprised Luffy by taking so much, he usually only took what he needed to survive. Sabo had given him some juice to drink to get his blood sugar back up along with an unnecessary apology. After all Luffy knew he wouldn't have asked if it wasn't important. But it did make Luffy wonder what his brother was attempting to do?

Luffy slowed his run at the center of town. In front of him stretched an impressive gold domed building with an expansive concrete courtyard. This looked like it to him. He could vaguely make out the tower atop that housed the alarm bell. It was right there! He just needed to activate it. How was he supposed to do this? The front door was locked tight, not to mention the security cameras, Luffy pulled his hood tighter scanning the area for a way in. The windows were locked as well. Luffy groaned in annoyance, he didn't have time for this. He reached into his boot for his knife.

He used the butt to shatter the window as he covered his eyes to the spray of glass. He knew he only had a few minutes before the building was swarmed with security as there was no doubt an alarm system. Not to mention the night guard was probably on his way. But he honestly didn't have time to worry about that. He leapt through the window trying to avoid the mess of glass on the floor as he rolled to his feet and took off running down the hallway. He thought he heard a yell somewhere behind him but he kept running. He had a job to do.

 **XXX**

Sanji slipped outside into the cool night air. The noisy sounds from the restaurant floated up behind him but he ignored it. He could afford to take a cigarette break.

He sat down on the stone steps at the back of the Baratie as he took out a cigarette fishing around for his lighter. If he hadn't practically gown up in this restaurant he would quite. Seriously how annoying could a customer be without him being allowed to kick their asses? Mostly because this late into the night most of his customers were drunk hunters and the occasional mismatched wanderer. This would be due to the Baratie's unique location. It rested on the edge of town just between the city limits and the outlands. Although to most this seemed like a poor business decision Sanji did have to admit it kept things interesting. Plus they received all sorts of guests, from rag tag explorers to upper class business men who were driven out here by its reputation alone.

Sanji flicked his lighter to life attempting to light his cigarette. He heard the bushes rustle behind him. 'Probably the wind' he thought to himself with a resigned sigh. Yea right that was the wind. He sighed again as he put his lighter away taking a deep drag of his cigarette.

"Who's out there?" He asked standing up to investigate. He dropped his cigarette in the grass crushing it beneath his feet.

Sanji was not prepared for the blood chilling sight of two yellow eyes staring out at him from the darkness. That was certainly not the drunken pub patron he had been expecting.

"Shit," He whispered feeling desperately in his pockets for something to protect himself with. Of course he had nothing, these were his work clothes for Christ's sake. He moved to dash back to the restaurants back door but the wolf beat him too it. It lunged at him, leaping over his head.

Sanji cussed and ducked to the side as the wolf landed smoothly between him and the building. He was in one piece but he was also trapped. Damn it! He lowered himself ready to jump out of the way again if needed. Only the wolf never attacked. Instead it sat down in the grass cocking its head questioningly.

Whatever Sanji was about to say died in his throat. Wait a minute he recognized that particular black wolf.

"Ace?" He questioned feeling ridiculous if he was wrong.

Ace gave a low snort as he nodded his head, yellow eyes never leaving Sanji's face.

"Can you understand me?"

Ace threw Sanji a dirty look that needed no further explanation. The cook got the distinct feeling he had just said something very offensive.

"Sorry," he defended. "I don't know how it works."

Ace barked at him, followed by a series of growls and whines that Sanji guessed was his form of communication. Was he supposed to be getting any of this? He glanced around for Luffy or Sabo so they could translate for him, surprisingly enough they were nowhere in sight.

"Can you shift back and tell me?"

Ace gave a huff, showing his massive front canines and making Sanji take a step back.

"Let me guess," Sanji said, not up for a game of twenty questions with a huge wolf. "That was very impolite in your culture?" Whatever Ace's culture was.

Ace gave a small affirming growl.

Sanji raised his hands up in defeat. How was he supposed to know how these things worked? He had never tried to have a conversation with a wolf before. But the next time he had a little chat with a hybrid wolf he would know that shifting forms on command was a touchy subject.

"Well I can't understand you beyond the sense of urgency and that nagging feeling I'm not exactly saying the right things here."

He watched as Ace bent down to sniff the ground, nosing around until he found a pointed stick. Sanji stared in surprise as Ace began to scrawl messily in the dirt. He had to bite his tongue to stop his surprised remark about Ace being able to write. He had a feeling that wouldn't go over well. Not to be species-ist but he had never met an animal who knew the alphabet. Although to be fair he hadn't had a lot of conversations with animals at the risk of looking crazy.

"Vampires?" He questioned.

Ace nodded.

"And wolves?"

"Attacking!" Sanji shot up scanning the surrounding trees. "Where?"

Ace scrawled a messy word 'town' into the dirt making Sanji's heart sink.

"We have to warn them! What are you doing out here if they are attacking town?"

"Help?" Sanji read confused. "You want my help?"

Ace shook his head before pausing for a moment and nodding. For his part Sanji was clueless as to what he could possibly do to stop a vampire invasion. There was no way Ace could have known he worked here so it had to be blind luck. Yet somehow it seemed like he was part of Ace's plan. They were both trying to save the town right?

"What do you need me to do?"

He watched as Ace hurriedly scrawled nearly illegible words into the soil. Sanji was able to make out the word sorry, no time, chase and trust before Ace was scribbling it out to write one word in larger letters.

"Scream?" Sanji asked confused. "You want me to scream?"

Whatever he was about to ask was quickly forgotten as Ace lunged at him going after his right leg with ferocity. Sanji didn't have to pretend, he really did yell. Others may refer to it as a scream but Sanji still preferred yell. Which he continued to do as Ace began to drag him around to the front of the bar. Sanji flailed around on instinct trying to push Ace off of him. He was still to surprise to do anything actually effectual however. Instead he was forced to deal with the embarrassment of the entire bar seeing him, including the Baratie staff who turned ghostly pale at the scene.

He watched flushed red with embarrassment from his vantage point upside down on the ground as the bar filled with hunters gabbed their weapons charging for the door. What the hell? Since when was Ace suicidal? Well actually considering he had only known him for a few days it seemed all Ace did was suicidal stunts. Sabo had even called him out on it when he used himself as live bait for a hoard of pissed vampires. But still if this was another calculated risk Sanji thought Ace better check his math again.

Satisfied he had everyone's attention Ace wasted no further time. He dashed off, Sanji's leg still firmly grasped in his mouth. Although Sanji did note that there was no pain like he expected. No doubt there would be a set of teeth punctures in his leg but it would be nothing a few band aids couldn't fix, it certainly wasn't anything serious. Ace had asked him to trust him, and although the idea of a human trusting a wolf while he absconded with said human was laughable he did owe Ace from last time. He ceased his struggling, allowing Ace to drag him along the bumpy ground as he opened his mouth and tried to give his best convincing screams. Despite how much it hurt his pride.

He could hear the hunters screaming behind them. Ace ducked to the grove, leaving those who could to follow him on foot, trying to chase him out. Meanwhile the more impatient ones got into their cars, determined to head him off at the end of the grove where it connected with the main road. Sanji had little faith Ace would survive getting run down by their supped up trucks. The smartest thing was to wait them out in the trees. Here they could hide from the spray of bullets that usually accompanied a mob of angry hunters. But they needn't have bothered. With Ace moving erratically and Sanji flailing about it would be nearly impossible to get a clean shot without harming Sanji, hunters may not be the nicest people but at the very least they weren't dumb.

A loud bang sounded as the bark of a nearby tree was blown off.

Err, scratch that they actually were shooting at him. Apparently intelligence levels didn't matter as much as being totally smashed did. Sanji screamed at them furious at their dumb life choices. Although his voice was lost among the other furious voices telling them to cease fire. Although those voices were quickly blocked out by another round of bullet spray. Hunters also weren't known for their delicacy and tact when it came to missions. There was a reason there was still a military.

He heard Ace grunt in pain and stagger as a round of the bullets caught him in his hind legs. He watched in concern as the wolf shuddered before managing to catch himself and continue forwards, picking up the speed trying to evade the hunters. No use now, he was leaving a blood trail for them to track.

"Ace," Sanji said trying to be heard over the commotion. "What's the endgame here? You got their attention."

Ace twitched his ears, pretending not to have heard Sanji as he continued forwards, dodging through the trees to try and widen the distance between the angry mob. Normally Ace was far faster than the drunk humans but he was responsible for making sure Sanji still had some skin left on his back when this was over. Still with his mind set Ace was able to lose them in just a few minutes.

Sanji could still vaguely make out their angry screams but they were far enough aside not to see the glow of their flashlights.

He felt Ace shutter once more and he nearly dropped Sanjis leg. Still he managed to keep going. Sanji watched in silence, putting a hand on Ace's snout secretly hoping the action didn't result in him losing a hand.

Ace looked at him in surprise, setting his leg down to the ground. Sanji took it back great fully before sitting up moving his hand to Ace's trembling leg. Ace jerked in surprise pulling back from Sanji with a warning growl.

'How is that fair?' Sanji thought to himself as he swatted Ace's head determined to look at the wound despite another warning growl. 'He asked me to trust him before practically mauling me and he won't even let me look at the gunshots.' He knew it took a lot to keep a wolf down but he didn't know what was considered enough.

Sanji took off his apron, shredding it into thinner strips as he once again attempted to wrap Ace's wounds.

"They're tracking you by your blood trail!" Sanji reminded him when Ace snapped at him. He watched in near amusement as the wolf huffed before sitting down, turning his head away almost as if pouting.

Sanji worked quickly knowing they didn't have a lot of time. He got that Ace was trying to get the hunters to chase him, seeing as he was running towards town which currently happened to be the meeting point for the predators of the forests. He was willing to bet Ace was trying to lead the gang of hunters strait into battle to defend the town. Which actually wasn't a bad plan except for the fact that it was incredibly dangerous for Ace.

"So where are Blonde and Luffy at?"

Ace rose to his feet cocking his head in a familiar gesture that Sanji had often seem dogs do.

"Your just a big puppy huh?"

Ace growled at that, although it lacked its usually intensity as his attention turned to sniffing the air around them. Just as he did Sanji was able to make out an orange glow from the darkened trees. He and Ace shared a look. No way, were they actually trying to smoke them out? Were they trying to kill him as well? Damn these drunken fools.

He yelped as Ace grabbed the collar of his shirt and began running again, away from the growing smoke cloud that threatened them. Sanji could only hold on as he was carried through the forest towards the main road.

"Your plan better be good Ace!" He yelled. Because it looked like the drunk hunters considered him a collateral casualty. No wonder Luffy and Ace hated them so much.

He couldn't help but wonder if all wolves were like Ace? Not like twisted vigilantes or whatever but intelligent creatures with at least some range of emotions other than murderous and psychopathic. They had learned about wolves in school, apparently they were pretty gnarly animals who would eat the weakest wolf of the pack when food got tight.

Although a couple weeks ago when they were treading back to town, soaked and miserable but alive Sabo had made an offhand comment about how wolves were social animals or something like that. They did everything in packs and a lone wolf was considered a dead wolf. He had even witnessed Ace trying to groom Luffy when the kid had gotten nailed by Usopps toast avalanche, which was more of a way to deal with the excess Spiderman bread then anything else. But wolves must be social groomers then. That didn't seem all that evil. There also must be wolf moms who were dedicated to raising their cubs instead of eating them.

Sanji shook his head annoyed with himself. What was he doing? They were in this mess because wolves were attacking the town why the hell was he sympathizing with them. Ace wasn't like the rest of them only because he was a good part human. If he wasn't a mixed breed then he would be as soulless as the rest of them. After all Sanji hadn't seen any evidence that the other wolves had the capacity to be compassionate.

With that thought in mind he watched in surprise as Ace broke the tree line, escaping the increasingly smoky forest onto the main road. Sanji cried out a warning to Ace as his eyes could just about make out the dark shapes lying in wait. Although he needn't have bothered. Ace's eyes were far superior in the dark. He knew exactly how many trucks lay in wait for him on the dusty dirt road, yet he blazed forwards anyways.

Sanji heard a gunshot sound and that's when everything fell into chaos. He closed his eyes as the trucks simultaneously turned their high beams on, blinding the two of them. He could hear yelling and more gunshots but before he could react the pressure on his shirt was released and he fell to the ground shielding his eyes to the harsh glare and cussing. Ace had dropped him. Probably in an attempt to save him from being riddling with bullets and dragging down the road. He felt himself being swarmed by his co-workers and the more reasonable and sober hunters.

Everyone was asking if he was okay and telling him to lie still. He ignored them as he tried to sit up and look for Ace only to be pushed back down by the concerned crowed. That idiot really did have a death wish.

Sanji settled back down with a resigned sigh as he heard Zeff's worried voice, pushing the others away so Sanji could breathe.

"You okay son?"

"I'm fine." Sanji said reaching into his pocket for a cigarette. But the wolf probably wouldn't be. He wondered how many bullets Ace could handle before he went down. He opened the box rolling the tiny death machine around in his fingers without lighting it. He wondered what would happen when Ace's legs finally did give out. The hunters would catch up that was certain. He doubted they would believe Ace was actually trying to help.

Sanji cursed as he crushed the cigarette in his fingers pushing his friends aside as he stood up.

'Damn it!' He thought annoyed as his reached into his pocket for his phone. All he had wanted was a smoke.

 **XXX**

 **Flashback (That didn't fit into chapter 14)**

"Isn't he precious?" His mother cooed, her voice sickly sweet as she pinched his cheek affectionately. "He's everything mommy hoped for."

"And he's blond," The other woman cooed. "You must be so proud."

'Proud of what?' Sabo wondered. His favorable alleles conforming to his parents will or his father for not polluting his mother's blond pigment.

His mother nodded as she stared down at her white silk gloves. Sabo felt a thrill of fear run through him as he realized the fingers were smudged with dirt from his cheek.

That will teach her to touch me with white gloves he thought sarcastically as he fidgeted on the spot.

"He is going to be a good heir." Her voice was slightly harder this time as she directed these words towards him.

The woman laughed, unaware of the tension in the air. "I'm sure he will be perfect."

"He WILL be perfect." His mother agreed with a look that sent a shiver down his spine.

Vampires liked the word perfect. Vampire nobles liked it even more. They were obsessed with being perfect. The wolves had their raw strength and instincts, humans had…what did they even do besides being tasty? And Vampires apparently had perfection. Perfect people didn't sweat, they didn't cry, they didn't touch or smile. And above all perfect people did what they were told. To Sabo being perfect sounded a lot like being dead. Except if he were dead he wouldn't have to put up with all his parents crap.

At the sound of the bell the two women perked up. It was almost time for dinner. But not just any dinner it was the blood moon festival, a vampire holiday. The nobles celebrated with a feast in which they would pat each other on the back for being born both a noble and the superior race. They would make boring speeches and do even more boring toasts with blood wine. In simpler terms it was superiority complex appreciation night. This was Sabo's first year attending and he was not looking forwards to it.

This was also the first time Sabo would be introduced to the vampire king and many of the court nobles, apparently it was a big deal. But for whatever reason Sabo couldn't bring himself to care. If you've met one uptight self-righteous asshole you've met them all. And one day if Sabo was really lucky he would get the honor of becoming one of those self- righteous assholes. Maye even the king asshole but that was a secret.

His mom had obsessed over him for hours insisting that he needed to look perfect. She made sure to stress how very imperfect he was from the wildness of his curly hair to his button nose, which she insisted made him look like a peasant instead of a noble. She watched like a shrew as the maids tried their best to untangle Sabo's hair and part it to one side only for his mom to scream at them that he looked hideous and his hair simply must be parted on the other side instead to counter balance the asymmetrical lines of his face. Then the second they finished parting his hair on the other side she nearly had a panic attack screaming that he looked like a thug and they needed to try the other side again.

Sabo hadn't known there was such a thing as a five year old thug. He had never seen a thug but he doubted this is what they looked like. He was wearing so many layers and decorations he probably resembled a pincushion.

Sabo watched dully as the vampires began to trickle into the dining room. He moved to follow them only to be tugged aside by his mother who bent down to look him in the eyes.

"Don't you dare mess this up." She hissed. "You will behave perfectly or you will be locked in your room until you are of marrying age. Do you understand?"

Sabo nodded, knowing if anything went wrong here there would be hell to pay. He followed her inside numbly wishing he really was dead. Anything would be better than this, his parents living puppet.

The dining room was an unfortunately elaborate affair with high arching ceilings that left enough room for someone to build a two story home inside of it. Nothing but over the top for nobles. A huge dark wood table ran the length of the room. It was filled with elaborate dishes and expensive wines. Still the fellow vampires did not look impressed. They simply stared passively at the display as they filled the room.

Sabo took a seat besides his parents looking down at his lap. This was going to suck, he knew that much. However he was not prepared for just how cruel this was truly going to be.

"Sabo look, our main course." Sabo looked up confused from the table. He thought the food was the main course. He didn't know how wrong he really was.

Humans, at least of dozen of them were being pulled kicking and screaming by servants into the room. He shook his head, they couldn't possibly do what he thought they were going to do. He gripped the table so hard his fingers turned white. He watched as the humans were marched to the empty seats besides the vampires still crying out in fear.

Sabo vaguely registered the king's arrival. He stood up with the rest and pretended to listen to the speech without catching a single word of it. Instead his heart was pumping incredibly fast and he felt sick.

"Now then," The king said with a cruel smile. "Dig in."

Sabo's eyes widened in horror as he watched the humans squirm, calling out for a savoir that everyone knew wasn't coming. The one closest to him was being the loudest. It looked so pitiful and so scared. And the vampires were drinking it up. They laughed at the entertainment, loving the way they cried so pitifully.

Sabo closed his eyes unwilling to see them kill it. He didn't dare cover his ears though. He knew that if he did the nobles would pick up on it and his parent's wrath would be swift and absolute. He felt himself tremble when the screams intensified to a nearly inhuman frequency. He never knew something could sound so awful. Oh god he felt like he was going to be sick.

Up until now Sabo had just blindly taken the offered blood without questioning where it came from. Sure he knew it was human but nobody seemed too concerned with something as trivial as a human life so why should he worry about it? Hell he hadn't even thought that humans were developed enough to have this kind of emotional distress. His palms began to sweat as he clutched at his shorts. He felt his mom address him and he forced himself to open his eyes to look at her. He didn't dare turn his head to the side though least he loose his lunch.

"Sabo what are you waiting for?"

"I'm not hungry right now." He said his voice shaky as he looked down at his lap fighting off tears.

He heard his father inhale sharply from besides his mother.

"Sabo," His voice was still polite but it promised pain and suffering should he disobey. "It would be rude to refuse our good host's food wouldn't it?" He leaned closer so Sabo could feel his cold breath on his cheek. "Don't embarrass us boy. It will be the last thing you do."

"I…" Sabo began looking up to meet his father's gaze and instantly regretting it. Beyond the scope of Outlook's ugly mug the humans were getting torn apart. Blood stained the once white table cloth. The scent of the blood alone made Sabo nearly drool. If his stomach wasn't already twisted into knots he would probably give into his instincts. His gaze turned back to the struggling human nearest him. He could see the man's terrified eyes as he continued to scream the best he could even as his throat was being torn out. It turned his head slightly, tears streaming down his face and for the briefest moment their eyes met.

"Help me," It moaned at Sabo reaching it's, now only one, arm towards him still desperate to live or at the very least die faster.

"Please…"

Sabo felt the tears well up in his own eyes once again threatening to spill onto his cheeks. He mustn't let his parents see.

'I'm so sorry.' He mouthed to the dying man.

"Nhmm,"

Sabo forced himself to break the eye contact instead facing his father. He forced himself to relax his features. He could do this.

"I've got some blood on my clothes. I need to go wash it off, excuse me I wouldn't want to be messy in the presence of nobles."

His father nodded dismissively, turning back to the feast. Sabo bowed his head at the guests standing up slowly as he turned away from the scene. He finally felt the tears stream down his cheeks but he couldn't bring himself to care. Refusing to look back he continued towards the door flinching as the screams were suddenly cut off.

'I'm so sorry.' He whispered although he knew it was pointless.

The second the dining room door closed he broke into a run sprinting at full speed down the hallway. Servants called after him but he didn't stop until he reached the nearest bathroom. He locked the door with trembling fingers as he collapsed next to the toilet promptly emptying his stomach contents.

"I'm so sorry," He cried to no one in particular between heaves.

Parasites, his entire race were just parasites feeding on human cattle. And he was one of the blood sucking parasites. After all what did he think he was feeding off of all this time? Just because he hadn't seen the blood sacs that supplied the blood before it didn't mean it wasn't happening. He was just as guilty as the rest of his race. He was just a pathetic, whimpering, sadistic, sac of shit.

When he was sure there was nothing left in his stomach to throw up he stuck his finger down his throat willing his body to keep going. As if this would somehow expel all the blood had had drunk over the years.

'I didn't know.' He reasoned to himself feeling fresh tears overtake the old ones. But he knew deep down that wasn't an excuse. Of course he had known, he knew exactly what he was doing. It was just easier not to think about it up until now. Even now after he had seen the horror with his own eyes he still did nothing. How was laying on the floor upchucking blood from the already dead helping anyone? No he knew it was too late for him. He was just as guilty as those stone cold bloodsuckers, he had been since he was born he just hadn't realized it until now.

He was a monster just like the rest.

He wiped his mouth on his soiled clothes and leaned his cheek on the cold tile floor. He wished desperately the wolves would just come and slaughter them all like they had been threatening to do for years. Vampires needed to be wiped off the face of the earth, Sabo included.

But that didn't seem like it was going to happen so what did he do until then? It was too late to atone he knew that already. He didn't even want to think about how many humans had to die so he could feed. He was sure they had been as scared as that man was, crying out for empathy that vampires simply did not possess.

"I can't atone," He told the cold floor, "But I can be better." And hopefully along the way something would put him out of his misery.

 **XXX**

 **Modern times**

Sabo watched from his branch at the furious horde of vampires and wolves beneath him. The plan was for the wolves to drive the villagers out while the vampires lined the edges of town, staying out of the public's eye at the same time managing to grab the stragglers. That way the wolves take all the blame and all the risk while the vampires get the real reward.

Sabo had told his brothers he would buy them time. But looking down at the mass below him he had no idea how that was possible. Why the hell did he even care? This wasn't his fight he reminded himself for the hundredth time that night. He knew Ace had similar feelings. But if Sabo really did feel that way then why had he kept watch every night this week? Why had he booked it back to his house roused his brothers and then sent them into harms ways. He cared about them far more then he cared about anything else in this world.

He heard his little brothers voice clearly in his head, repeating the words he had told Sabo and Ace hundreds of times. 'Because you guys are good!' Their little idiot would proudly pronounce as Ace and Sabo shared exasperated looks. Sabo and Ace would always try to tell him they weren't but he never listened. Luffy was stubborn like that.

He closed his eyes feeling the powerful strength rush through his blood. He hadn't felt like this in a long time. This was how most vampires felt all the time instead of constantly hungry like Sabo always was. But there was no helping that, he had made his choice long ago and he was going to stick with it.

Sabo scanned the crowed, still unaware he was spying on them from above.

'Oh right,' he reminded himself as he crouched to his knees preparing to drop from his tree and into the crowed.

'To be a decent person.'

 **XXX**

 **There you have it, a 8,500 word chapter to make up for how flakey I have been lately (sorry). I was going to put Sabo's flashback in with Luffy's and Ace's but theirs were cute and fluffy and this one was really dark as Ace and Luffy lives started off considerably better and went downhill whereas Sabo's always kind of sucked. Unfortunately things in both their current life and their history are about to get much worse for them.**

 **Thanks for staying with me guys! Please comment and tell me what you think. I promised that the story was going to get intense when the action started up again. Next chapter will be even worse for the three of them. I can promise at least one of them is going to miss the meet up. I know these are my famous last words but next chapter will be up much quicker.**

 **Yana5:** **Thank you**

 **SEllen23: It's always best to get passive aggressive revenge! Anyways glad you liked it thank you**

 **Lostdog200: I'm really glad you liked it. I'm not the only one who thought it as funny!**

 **Poemado: Yes! More on the Ace/Luffy imprinting thing later. Unfortunately it's going to be not such a good thing in the future. I'm glad you liked the fluff chapter**

 **Guest1: Thank you for laughing! I thought it was funny but I'm really glad other people enjoyed it as well. This chapter was kind of intense by comparison.**

 **Guest2: OMG that's so nice! Thank you for saying nice things! Writing always makes me feel better when I am down. I'm glad you like my stories. I loved writing LOLC and it made me sad when it finished.**


	17. Chapter 17

**(The past so far)**

 **Here are all the flashbacks spliced together in order with huuuge plotholes soon to be filled (but not too soon). There is no new info just things from the story and the AN's put into chronological order. Hopefully it helps.**

 **Girl is found dead in the woods shows increasing hostilities between humans and the forest dwellers. Rodger the king of the wolves is trying to fill the gap between races and win the humans trust by working his way up the ladder. He lives outside of town with his beautiful human wife Rogue and their perfect hybrid child Ace who causes trouble for them but whom they love anyway. Baby Luffy born prematurely under the love of his grandmother and mother Makino, Dragon tells them he has been appointed head hunter. (A few months later) Garp meets his grandson Luffy for the first time and talks to Makino about Rodgers death. Two years later five year old vampire noble sabo attends his first blood harvest festival. Hints he may have a chance to move up classes. He see's the cruelty of the vampire race and it scares him into promising never to drink human blood again, hoping this promise would kill him as he is miserable. Dragon starts training Luffy as the new hunter leader after his mother's death. Somewhere in between this time Law the vampire and Sabo become friends and Doflamingo becomes the vampire leader. Much later Luffy goes missing and his clothes and blood are found in the forest making it impossible for Luffy to have survived. Foul play is suspected but the case is quickly dropped (as we learn from Garp). However Ace and Sabo admit to Marco that they staged Luffy's death in order to make the village think he was dead although he was critically injured and nearly killed. Ace imprints. Sabo meets Luffy for the first time and thinks he is defected and gets spooked about how open the kid is with them. Luffy Ace and Sabo spend their first Christmas together and things are awkward. Ace avoids Luffy apparently out of guilt that he refuses to tell Sabo about. Luffy is a trouble magnet and Sabo is forced to watch him. Sabo tells Ace to stop ignoring Luffy as he's making things worse. The two make a Christmas celebration. Luffy gives them Christmas gifts and hugs them which neither respond well to for different reasons. Luffy thanks them for being kind to him. Half a year later and the two are much better with Luffy going so far as to touch and comfort him when he has the flu. They confess to trying their best with the human but being out of their depth taking care of him, especially Ace who always ends up hurting him. A year before the story starts the three are completely used to each other and together embark on the case of the outskirts monster who turns out to be Chopper.**

 **XXX**

"Ace, Luffy wake up."

Both of his brothers whined in protest as Sabo tried to shake them awake.

"Get up I need your help."

"S'wat time is it?" Ace slurred tiredly.

"It's a little past midnight." Sabo said rolling his eyes. Honestly it wasn't even that late yet. But they were all tired from this week's seemingly endless border patrol to make sure no genocides were occurring without their knowledge.

"Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"What do you think?"

His two brothers groaned as they rolled out of bed.

"The vampires are moving tonight." Sabo told them as he leaned against the wall, letting them get dressed. "They were able to rally some wolves who are going to be the offensive strike on the town."

"How may did they get?" Ace asked sleepily as he buckled his boots coming to stand by Sabo who shrugged. "Not a ton but enough to make a dent if need be."

Most of the wolves had unsurprisingly opted out of this. Just like humans not every wolf was a blood thirsty cannibal bent on chaos and destruction. There was also mothers, elders, children and reasonable pack leaders. All of whom knew the extreme risks that went along with invading a human village, or as Sabo saw it poking a hornets nest full of guns.

"You guys go set the alarm, try to bring the hunters as quickly as you can… and the military while you're at it."

"Oh just that then?" Ace said as Luffy joined them at the top of the ladder, still too tired to pay attention.

"You can trade with me?" Sabo told him with a wry smile. "I have to somehow buy us some time with our friendly parasites."

"Alright," Ace agreed. "Torn apart by hunters it will be. Remember me fondly and I you."

Sabo rolled his eyes as they made their way to the door. "We will be fine." Probably, he thought. Statistically speaking they hadn't died yet. Although all of them had very close calls. Many would say too close for comfort.

As Ace headed off to the shed to grab his knife Sabo pulled a sleepy Luffy aside.

"I have to ask you a favor."

Tired eyes met his. "Mmmhm?" he hummed not even needing to ask to know what he was talking about. That didn't make Sabo feel any better. Just because he had given up on plan A which was starving, it didn't mean he had to feel any better about what he was doing. Although it wasn't like Luffy seemed to care that much, or at all. Sabo was pretty sure he actually fell asleep while he got his blood drained.

He wanted to take more, at least enough to ensure his victory but if he did that Luffy might not be able to do his job so he would have to settle for procrastinating long enough and probably eventually getting caught. He would have to work out the kinks later.

He pulled away, shaking his brother awake. Sabo doubted he even knew what was going on. Apparently humans needed more sleep, fun fact the two of them had to learn over the years.

"Hmm?" He asked sleepily

"Drink this." He told him handing him a bottle of apple juice as the two of them headed to the door to meet an impatient Ace.

It would help if he could drink the wolf's blood as well but wolf blood was poisonous to vampires. Sabo got away with it because Ace was half human but he only did it in a pinch as it hurt his stomach and tasted like mud to him.

"So what's the endgame?" Ace asked as they convened on the porch.

"Meet back at the cave by daybreak." He told his brothers.

"Got it," Ace said for both of them. "Be careful." he warned his brother seriously

"I'm always careful." Sabo defended, thinking Ace was typically the more reckless of the bunch.

"Well be super careful then, I don't like this."

Since when was Ace the shining voice of morality? He had once jumped off a waterfall on a dare, his own dare to make matters worse. But they didn't have time for Sabo his argue right now. Besides he could see why Ace was concerned. This was hella dangerous.

"Got it." He promised. "Daybreak don't be late!"

Ace nodded as the two of them headed off towards town, leaving Sabo to deal with the nest.

'Awesome'

 **XXX**

Luffy ducked down a darkened hallway watching as the night guard thundered past his hiding spot. He had no clue where the alarm was. Maybe it wasn't even here, it could be triggered by a phone call or whatever. He shook his head. He would make it work. They were counting on him. But he really didn't have time to search each floor, this place was massive. Still that seemed like his best bet. What were you suppose to do when you were lost? He remembered his mother telling him to stay put and wait for an adult to help you. Luffy was pretty sure she was referring to the time he wondered off in the super market but it was all he had to go on right now.

He peeked out into the darkened hallway, the alarm still noisily ringing. Hopefully that would draw some more people. He ducked back to the hallway continuing down its length. He could hear sirens outside steadily growing louder. He doubted they would help him much.

"The heck are you doing here kid?"

For the second time tonight Luffy stopped running turning around to face an angry looking janitor.

"Are you the one who did this?"

Luffy had never been one for lying so he nodded looking around for a hallway map or something.

The man regarded him wearily as he held up his mop. "Do you have any idea how long that takes to clean up? And guess who has to sweep it up. Why would you…"

"I need help." Luffy cut him off, hoping this would go better than last time. He was only asking for directions now.

"I'm lost, tell me where the alarm button is."

The man blinked at him stupidly for a second. "Are… you serious? You broke in here for that?"

Luffy nodded, "Vampires are coming. We need to warn the town."

The look the man gave him made it clear he did not believe him. Luffy sighed irritated as he pulled his crossbow off his back pointing it at the man. "Tell me or I will hurt you." Ace had taught him that one. It was called bluffing or something, you intimidate the weak prey until they cave or play dead.

The man swore as he tried to duck behind his broom. "Are you serious?" He asked again panic in his voice this time as his eyes were glued to the crossbow. "Your crazy aren't you? This is a cry for help or something. Listen kid there's always another way if you just put it down we…."

"Tell me where it is!" Luffy cut him off.

"Why do you even have one of those? Where did you get that?"

"Tell me!" Luffy insisted loader as he aimed the bow.

"Fine fine, basement level second door on the right. Just PUT THAT DOWN."

Satisfied Luffy stowed it back on his back walking towards the man who tried to fend him off with the broom. This guy was an idiot, the bow wasn't even loaded. Idiots like him got eaten first. He grabbed the broom from the terrified man who gave a squeak as Luffy cracked it over his knee.

"Please, don't hurt me."

Luffy ignored him instead handing him the splintered broom stick. "Aim for the center." Luffy told him showing him on his chest. "That's where their hearts are. You have to surprise them otherwise they will eat you." The man sputtered looking down hopelessly at the makeshift weapon and back at Luffy.

"You're fucking crazy!" He called angrily as Luffy took off down the hallway.

Luffy ignored him as he skidded down the hallway finding a fire escape stairway that was unlocked. He took the stairs two at a time as he bounded down them falling on his face as he tripped over his own two feet in the mad dash down the stairs. Not bothering to get up he crawled down the hall to the second door. It was locked but he could hear voices from inside and see movement under the door.

Wasting no more time he pulled himself to his knees reaching for the guard's belt. He didn't have anything cool but Luff had noticed he did have pepper spray, which ought to work. He let his treasured hoodie fall to the ground so he could take off his shirt, roughly ripping it down the middle with his knife so he could tie the two parts around his nose and mouth. He could still see, but the already dark basement was near pitch black. Still it would have to do. He undid his shoelace wrapping it around the pepper spray handle, wedging his thumb between the buttons to prevent it from going off in the hallway.

Sabo and Ace always gave him the boring jobs, he thought angrily as he pulled his hoodie back on. He bet they were doing way cooler stuff right now, like cliff diving or something while he was stuck threatening janitors and asking for directions.

He knocked on the door, listening carefully as the voices stopped. "What is it now?" Someone snapped. The door flew open as yet another group of angry guards stared him down.

Luffy wasted no time kicking him in the gut and sending him staggering back into the room. He pulled his thumb out as he tossed the canister into the room with them as he grabbed the door handle slamming it shut. He could hear panicked screams as the gas worked its way into the guard's eyes and throat. They didn't need to worry they would be fine… mostly. It wasn't lethal.

Luffy felt them trying to escape but the held the door handle firmly until the threats were replaced by coughing. He slammed the door open, taking two unsuspecting guards down with it as he sprinted into the room. Maybe this wasn't his best idea. The room was so polluted it was hard to see. The gas worked its way through the cloth and stung his eyes and throat. Still nothing nearly as bad as the guards who seemed to not even notice him on their desperate attempt to flee the room.

He scanned the room, tears obscuring his vision. He stumbled over to what looked like a control panel. Why didn't they label their buttons he thought to himself? If you gave Sabo a label maker he would have a field day here, organizing their chaotic system. He tried a big red button with the words' do not press' written clearly on it. Unfortunately that seemed to make things worse as they were plunged into darkness with an audible click. Luffy was no geniuses but he would bet that he had just turned off the power for the building. He pursed his lip as he felt along the board determined to find the right one. The backup power flickered on after a few minutes to his relief. He slammed down on a button that read 'for emergencies'. For a moment nothing happened and then the world seemed to ring. He cried out in alarm as he covered his ears to the sound. If that wasn't it he didn't know what was. He sprinted out of the room pulling the shirt off of his face as he coughed rubbing his eyes in a desperate attempt to cleanse them.

He was not expecting the slam to his ribs as he made it outside. His eyes were still too blurry to see much but he could feel a knee slamming into his stomach causing him to fall down coughing. "Who the hell are you?" One of the guards asked tangling their fingers in his hair and forcing him to his knees.

"Are you that bond kid that we were warned about?"

Spoken like someone who had never seen an action movie Luffy thought as he reached up to try and pry the hands off of him.

"You're in a world of hurt kid, stop resisting."

The world was still blurry but Luffy couldn't wait any longer as he twisted around punching the man in the stomach forcing him to let him go. He grabbed the man's arm as he flailed backwards, flipping him over his shoulder and onto the cold floor. He downed the next guy with a knife hand to the temple. Still he could make out another three or four blobs charging at him. If he had to guess they had recovered from the pepper spray while he had been in there. That stunt may not have been the best idea but it definitely had been the quickest and that's what mattered. He could still hear the obnoxiously loud blare of the alarm so he knew the town would be able to as well.

He tried to blink the tears away as yet another punch came flying towards him. He blocked the fist, kicking in the man's knee causing him to crumble to the ground with a scream. Luffy gasped for air, out of breath as his itchy throat couldn't seem to get enough. He doubled over coughing as his throat burned. He had forgotten how much pepper spray hurt. Just two or three guys to go.

Before he could catch his breath one of the blobs staggered towards him, raising his blurry arms and shouting for him to stop. Luffy couldn't see what he was doing until it was too late. He heard the sound of sparks followed by a popping that set his chest aflame.

Unbelievable waves of pain flooded over him as he dimly registered his legs giving out. He fell to the ground his muscles contracted without his consent. It felt like he was being stabbed with a thousand needles all over his chest. His vision began to fill with spots as the blobs moved closer, still yelling. Although it sounded like they were underwater to him. The pressure disappeared leaving him gasping on the ground, desperately trying to regain control of his limbs. He felt like his arms were made out of jello. It took a moment after the shocks stopped to realize he had gotten tazed. This was not the first time. It had happened before a few times as part of his training, and then later just for fun. He had hated it every time.

He felt a knee between his shoulder blades as hands yanked his wrists behind his back. All he wanted to do was lie here until the pain stopped and he felt normal again but they wouldn't leave him alone. If he got caught here by a couple of guards…or police men, or military personnel which was most likely… or whatever the heck they were he would never live it down. His brothers would laugh at him until the day he died. Which would be pretty soon if he let them arrest him here. Besides his job wasn't done yet. He felt the cold metal of a handcuff lock around his left wrist. Before they could do the same to his other he managed to yank his arm up, surprising them with his sudden control of limbs. His elbow collided with something with a thud. He managed to yank his handcuffed arm free from their grasp hitting them in face with the loose cuff.

"Don't just stand there grab him." The man yelled furiously.

The blobs rounded upon him, minus the two he had knocked down. Oops, he hadn't realized he had hit them too hard.

He shoved the man off of him as he clambered to his feet unsteadily. He heard the warning spark of the tazer just in time to roll to the side in time to avoid it. Before he had the chance to get up one of the guards grabbed his free wrist holding it above his head painfully as his buddy beat into him with his baton.

Luffy had to hand it to them, they sure were determined. But so was he. And he wasn't going to lose. Not to the likes of them. He tensed his muscles for a well-aimed kick to the knee but before he could his wrist was released.

Luffy staggered on his feet using the wall behind him for support.

"What gives?" One of the men cried angrily. "Why did you stop?"

Luffy leaned against the wall watching the blobs between coughs.

"Stand down men."

Luffy frowned, he had not been expecting that.

"Are you kidding me?"

"That tattoo." The man answered making Luffy freeze. "He's a hunter. Technically he outranks us."

"Are you kidding me look at him, he's just a kid. They don't make them that young."

"Don't argue, we are in enough trouble already." The man snapped as he stood up straighter reaching towards Luffy who instinctively flinched back expecting another tazer attempt.

"It's just water," the man told him. "It will help with the eye sight and breathing."

Luffy glared at the bottle, debating if he should take it or not. In the end he shook his head, desperately wishing to go back to fighting them. He didn't like this at all.

"What's your first name Mr. bond?"

Luffy blinked at him his mind drawing a blank. He wracked his brain for human names.

"umm..?"

"Seriously?" one of them men growled, trying to keep his temper although it was pretty clear from the sound of his voice that Luffy had broken his nose.

"Uhh, Zoro." He said, thinking of the first human that came to mind.

To his surprise the guard seemed to light up. "I've heard about you. I hadn't realized you finished your training." Luffy's confusion quickly turned to surprise as the man continued. "Yea apparently he's some young prodigy that is going to be the next hunter leader. Good for you kid."

Luffy opened to his mouth but whatever he was going to argue was stopped by a coughing fit.

"Are you alright?"

Luffy nodded as he pushed himself off of the wall still surprised. "Go, he told them. Vampires are coming you have to help everybody."

The men nodded as they cast him another glance as they took off. Luffy frowned to himself. He didn't like this. Why would Zoro be a hunter? Let alone lead them. That's means his dad must have elected him, his grandfather as well. Why hadn't anyone told him? Well he hadn't exactly told them anything either but still. He shook his head running back to the stair well only to run into the wall mistaking it for the exit.

He didn't like hunters, well except for Shanks. But he liked Zoro. But he hated hunters. Did that mean Zoro was going to turn all mean and evil, or was he going to be a nice hunter like Shanks?

Luffy shook his head as he found the door knob, running up the stairs. He didn't have time for this right now. He had to alert the military police and stop the stupid heads from calling off the alarm.

He had to go talk to his grandfather.

 **XXX**

As Sabo dropped into the crowed no one took notice. He felt the clutch of wolves pushing eagerly against his side, restless and ready to kill. He didn't know if he would be able to delay them. He had no power over the wolves, their blood lust and ambition was the only thing keeping them tethered to the group of parasites. Hopefully Ace and Lu had enough of a head start.

He scanned the crowed looking around for the familiar dark haired man. Apparently Doflamingo put him in charge of leading the attack. Sabo didn't have to beat all of them he just had to beat Law. But Sabo was like a starved alcoholic after a single binge. Enough to finally stave the ever constant ache but not enough to make up for a lifetime of starvation. Still like everything in his life he would use it to his advantage and make it work.

He pushed through the crowed ignoring the excited chatter of the hungry vampires. They weren't used to the gut aching need that came along with hunger. The lack of blood had hit them hard. So much so that the mere thought of a bloodless existence scared them enough to blindly accept the empty promises of a hallow man as long as it ended their few months of suffering.

This was why he hated them so much. They were like children, monstrous children unaware of consequences and morality. Their actions were driven by a sick soulless fascination for one simple thing, to see what would happen. How much drama they could cause, how much misery or how loud a scream they could draw. As long as their need for blood was fulfilled they cared about nothing else but refuge from the boredom that went along with being 'perfect' perfect and not quite alive yet not quite dead.

Sabo shook his head admonishing himself. That wasn't quite true. Sure vampire nobles were a lost cause, so were the followers of the court, the ones who followed whoever currently held the power. They carried out the will of the wealthy and reinforced their fake ideals of power. But there were others. Others types that Sabo had never met. But if there was one thing he had learned in the years since he had run away it was that you can't ever judge people in bulk. And as much as he hated to admit it that included vampires. Some of them were good. A long time ago he remembered that Law's family were part of that slim statistic. Good, kind and just. Law used to be as well. But so much had happened, Law had been through a lot. They both had been through a lot.

A rallying yell caught his attention as he turned to the center of the crowed.

"The time is now." He heard his old friend yell above the ruckus. Cheers of agreement followed his every word. Like a frantic unison heartbeat, singular and quite loud.

"The humans think they have won, smug and confident in their safety." He paused for the cheers to settle down. "But we will show them." The cheers became bellows and barks of frantic excitement. The need for action, for blood to be spilt and for stomachs to be filled.

Sabo clenched his fists. Images of the harvest festival offerings screaming in terror flashed across his mind. Feeling the familiar fire flood his veins that always struck before he did something stupid.

He gathered air into his lungs, using the fire to fuel his usually tame voice.

"STOP!"

Like a bomb of silence had gone off all movement ceased and a hundred pairs of eyes fixed on him. Great. The fiercest of the eyes were the familiar steely grey gaze of Law who was watching him with a bemused smile.

"Ah, look whose here. I didn't think this was your kind of party."

Sabo forced himself to relax meeting the gaze with a practiced cool detachment. "Revenge against humans I am on board with." He looked around addressing all of them this time. "But this is not the way to do it."

"Oh?" Law asked, face expressionless but grey eyes interested. Like a cat watching a ball of string slowly unravel, waiting for the exact moment it became enticing enough to pounce.

"What do you think will happen if you stir the hornets' nest?" Sabo asked for what felt like the hundredth time. "Why do you think the other wolves wouldn't give you their support? You may have your fun now but in the mourning the humans will make you pay."

Sabo noticed the uneasy shuffling of the crowed. Apparently his words were getting to them and they were just now considering the daunting fate that waited for them should they choose this path.

Law smirked as he turned to the troops, addressing the wolves only this time. "It's time for you to go ahead. We will follow soon."

One of the wolves growled in question, asking about Sabo's words, seeking validation for the senseless act of violence that up until a moment ago they believed would hold no consequences.

Law however waved his hand dismissively, "I was under the impression you wanted your pound of flesh no? We will proceed whether you help or not. If you want your meal that's up to you."

That seemed to do the trick as the wolves reluctantly headed off. No doubt frightened by the concept of missing out on the feast.

Sabo pursed his lips as he watched them go. Feeling a small tinge of defeat although he had known he wouldn't be able to stop them. If there was one lesson his parents had passed on to him it was that life was like a game of chess, and lucky enough for him he had always been gifted at chess. You had to make some sacrifices for your goal, you couldn't block all of your opponent's maneuvers just like you couldn't avoid losing some pieces, that was rule one of chess.

He turned back to the vampires looking straight at Law and summoning his limited supply of authority which he usually reserved for fighting with Ace.

"I want you to stop."

Law, grinning like the Cheshire as he took the bate, striding up to Sabo. "What's that? Are you giving me an order?"

Believe it or not Sabo took no joy in ordering people around. For one thing no living being, humanoid or animal liked taking orders. For another thing it didn't fit his personality. So it was just his luck he had been conceived for the sole reason of commanding the nest. At least that's what his parents had intended for him.

"Yes," He said firmly causing the vampire followers to tilt their head in surprise, not used to opposition. But they knew better then to voice their opinion. Hierarchy was everything in their world. And despite his disownment and self-proclaimed exile they were not in a place to speak out against him. They were not in control of their actions Law was and at the moment Sabo was challenging him on it. The question was, who was right. Law had been appointed by Doflamingo himself, no one could argue with that. But although his blood was undoubtedly noble it was not royal. Not like Sabo's was. And to vampires blood was everything. The catch was he would have to prove it.

Law realized this as well, all too prepared to face off against the younger teen. They didn't need to see the future to know what was going to happen and who would win.

"Well then," Law said his ever present smile still there. "Let's just see who they want to listen to then."

Sabo hid a grimace as he scanned the troops, who now were visibly nervous. He didn't blame them. This was going to hurt. Then again they probably did deserve it.

"Let's." He agreed locking his icy blue eyes onto the crowed.

"Men." Law said watching their backs straighten, "We are going to march to town as planned aren't we?" Law's eyes glowed from a steely grey to a blood red.

This was the power of the nobles. They were in control, always in control. And if the subjects wouldn't obey they would force their will upon them. Whose ever will stuck would be the one who was meant to lead them. Although ridiculous Vampire law was absolute.

Sabo looked out at the vampires who had begun to shuffle forwards towards him, grimly and pained. "Stop!" He told them again feeling the painful prickling in his temple that always accompanied this.

He watched with slight satisfaction as the group snapped to a stop with a groan of pain. Nobody but Law was having fun.

Law leaned back, apparently appreciating the excitment as he addressed the group, eye contact never breaking. "I gave you an order," he told them still amused. "Go now."

Sabo bit his lip as they once again began to march forward. They both knew he would never win. His natural power aside the simple truth was Sabo was starving. Just really slowly. He ate enough to stay alive and continue functioning but no more and no less. Law was sated, he was full and strong. Sabo would not win this way. Luffy's blood would only fuel him for so long and when he finally did lose control he would pass out, leaving his two siblings with the remaining responsibility. No if he was going down he was taking some of them with him.

This was where the real difference in blood lay. Any noble was capable of this forced control. But only pure bloods could wipe their victim's minds, cause them to sleep with a stern look or too freeze with a flick of their wrists. It was the same dick move Doflamingo had pulled on his brother a month ago. It was a move Sabo was hoping never to use. But as they marched towards him, ascending upon him he fixed them with a steely gaze.

'Good luck you two.' He thought with a small smile. 'Be careful.'

He closed his eyes feeling the malleable minds eager to be controlled, used, shut off. He grabbed as many of them as he could reach, like clutching at threads, a hundred threads.

He heard Law ask loudly what he was doing but he ignored him. Taking a deep breath he shut them off, like flipping a switch or a huge circuit board. He felt blood tickle from his nose and darkness creep upon his vision.

Somewhere off in the distance was a thumping sound followed by angry remarks.

'Sorry Ace,' He thought. 'I think I lied.'

His burst of blood-energy ran out and he tumbled to the ground, his legs giving out under him.

'I am going to be late.'

 **XXX**

 **I got so many new followers last chapter and I have no clue why. But I am super thrilled. I am really glad you guys like this really weird AU nobody asked for. And if you guys wouldn't mind I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts. Please tell me what you think! It means a lot knowing you guys like my story and I am doing something right, or I'm doing something wrong Lol. Either way let me know. It always motivates me to update faster so if there is ever a chapter that takes forever to come out you can yell at me on the internet and I will get right on it. (Nice yelling is preferred but I am very hard to offend** **It just means you loudly care about my story. (Also in case you missed it the summary of their backstory so far is at the top.)**

 **Anyway the next chapter should be out quickly as unlike usual where I figure out ideas as they come I actually planned this little mini arc in advanced and it's killing me not to just keep going and write the entire thing now. So soon. In the next two weeks hopefully.**

 **If you think my writing gets a little pretentious at the third chapter it's because I was listening to The Shining while I wrote this and god damn that dude can write, I am in awe. But seriously he talks way too much about bodily fluids, if it comes out of somebody I really don't need to know. Anywho that's the last we will hear of Sabo for a little while, Luffy's off to visit his grandfather and Ace's fate is shown next chapter as he tangles further with the teens.**

 **Moon:**

 **. . .It! Thank you for such a nice review. Luffy and Co's past will be revealed more and more. Especially after this arc we will get into it more. And he is about to go confront his grandfather who will no doubt have a few choice words for him. Creepy picture dude is down but not forgotten. He will undoubtedly return to try and 'help' Luffy. And always more ASL fluff on the way** **Thanks again for your review.**

 **Unknown DX:**

 **Yay! I'm glad you like it. ASL is too cute for their own good. Some light shed on the whole stabbing issue in this chapter, although not directly inferences could be made. Plus Sabo knows it's not Luffy's fault. But it's my personal philosophy that stories should have happy endings especially after how hard the characters work. Thanks for the review**

 **Sabrina-nee: Thank you! More on it's way hopefully soon.**

 **Kuroyuki D. Neko: Yes** **Here is another one! I'm glad you liked it.**

 **Moonfruit12:**

 **Lostdog200: Of course. Yes more story development on it's way. Yes I have some ideas planned for Stelly but I'm not sure if I will use them or not. Sabo's parents are definitely going to be in the story, maybe even in the next few chapters when Sabo wakes up. And they will appear more in the flashbacks. I'm still debating with Stelly though.**

 **Frostbert:**

 **Omg such a nice review! Seriously thank you so much. You are very kind. Don't worry I don't want to kill off the ASL I'm still not over Ace's death in the show I don't think I could take it if he died in my story as well. Hopefully the flashbacks aren't too confusing being broken up the way they are. Just in case I added the timeline. Luffy is on route to go meet the least scary member of his family who no doubt is dying to talk to him. More of his past after this arc. Thank you for the optimistic collage words** **I am sure we will both survive somehow.**

 **SEllen23: More things are happening. I'm glad you liked it**


	18. Chapter 18

**Heyyo, new chapter for you. I will try to start updating once a month again.**

 **Some Vampire lore: Noble vampires are capable of mind control or 'persuasion.' They can use it on anything but they mainly do it to their vampire underlings. Pure blood vampires are capable of this as well except their power is stronger and trumps a noble's persuasive control. They also have some other tricks like Sabo's sleep trick and how Doflamingo controlled Luffy. It takes a lot of energy and the stronger they are the more effective it is. The king Vampire is awarded many other powers as well as part of his tittle. Nobility is proved by fighting each other over mental control. Law surprised Sabo by being a noble and Sabo took Law by surprise revealing he is actually a pure blood.**

 *****Blood Whore (If you read vampire academy): A human that lets their blood be drunk, or is used for their blood. Often with inappropriate connotations.**

 **How did my red ridinghood AU turn so twilight?**

 **XXX**

"You good?" Marco asked as he pulled his truck alongside Sanji and a small crowed of chiefs from the Baratie.

"Peachy," Sanji told him sarcastically as he took a long drag of his cigarette.

"Sanji, maybe you should wait for the paramedics," Zeff told him.

"No need," Sanji said as he gestured to the gauze around his leg where a few dots of blood were slowly beginning to seep through. "This is fine." The injury was only skin deep.

"What happened?" Marco asked as he stared at Sanji's ankle.

"A wolf," one of the chefs answered. "The hunter idiots are currently chasing it."

"So you called me because?"

"I'll tell you on the way," Sanji told him crushing the cigarette between his fingers as he opened to car door.

"Sanji…"

"Go back to work you old geezers," Sanji told them. "I'm fine."

"Have it your way brat," Zeff said as he turned away.

Satisfied they would stay out of it, Sanji turned back to Marco and did a double take.

"Why did you bring them?" Thatch waved at him from the backseat while Zoro looked bored.

"I thought we might need help." Marco told him.

"Not from him!" Sanji said incredulously.

"Just tell us what's going on dart brow."

"It's Ace, he needs help." Sanji told them. "In fact I think the whole town might need help."

"Is he doing something self-sacrificing and stupid?"

"Yep," Sanji sighed.

"Where are Tweedledee and Tweedledum?"

"I don't know, they're not with him."

"Their probably in separate but equally deadly trouble." Zoro said begrudgingly.

"We should probably help huh?" Thatch said.

"Well I know which way Ace went," Sanji said. "He probably needs help the most right now, he has a mob on his ass and he already got shot a few times."

"Just point out the way," Marco said putting his foot hard down on the gas. Despite not knowing Ace very long he rather liked the wolf boy. He didn't want to see something bad happen to him. Especially seeing as he got the feeling that Ace had seen his fair share of horror in his young lifetime.

 **XXX**

"This is chaos," Whitebeard told his friend.

"Tell me about it." Garp sighed. "Alarms are going off people are panicking and apparently wolves are invading."

"Do we believe it?"

Garp shrugged. "We have to treat every threat like its real. Inform the hunters to move in. Tell the townspeople to evacuate to the shelter."

Newgate nodded as he made his way towards the phone lines only to jump back a few seconds later as a rock came smashing into the glass shattering it to pieces.

Garp opened his mouth to swear but he was interrupted when a red blur came crashing after it.

"What the HELL!" He yelled enraged. Seriously who just went around breaking peoples windows?

The small bundle of red was in fact a boy wrapped in a large red hoodie to protect himself from the glass. He coughed harshly, trying to regain his breath after the harsh landing on the floor. Garp could see his chest inhaling madly as he pushed himself up on unsteady arms.

"What exactly do you think you doing!" Garp all but yelled as he marched over grabbing the boys hood and yanking it harshly off so he could scold him properly. Except the words never came.

The two of them locked eyes and Garp felt like all the air had been sucked out of his lungs. He was staring into the fiery eyes of his grandson.

A sharp cut ran down his face leaving blood to stream down from his forehead. His cheeks were red and wet with tear tracks down them. Shards of glass littered his hair and clothes.

Garp felt tears well up in his eyes as he caught sight of the scar under the child's eye.

Besides him Newgate swore under his breath as he too recognized the boy.

"Luffy?"

The boy looked at Garp with a mixture of surprise and determinations. He got up wordlessly, letting glass shards litter the carpet.

Edward looked between the two of them, unsure of what to do or what to say.

"I have to tell you something," Luffy said his tone business like and completely serious. Nothing like the goof kid Garp used to know.

When neither of the said anything Luffy continued. "The vampires are going to invade as well, they will surround the town when the wolves strike. They all know where the shelter is. You have to tell the people not to go there."

"How do you know this?" Newgate said giving Garp a chance to recover.

Luffy didn't answer, instead he stared at Newgates hip, apparently sizing up his threat level. Whitebeard subconsciously moved his hand to his belt, where gun was stored. And that tiny movement was all it took.

Luffy dove backwards as Newgate sprung forwards trying to catch him. He knew they couldn't let him go now, not when he seemed to be the key to a whole slew of questions nobody had thought to ask yet. The Vampires and Wolves… had an alliance?

The younger teen dodged his grip as he lunged for the window.

"Luffy stop!" Garp barked, finally finding his voice. He too tried to catch his grandson but he clutched at empty air as Luffy threw himself out of the broken window.

Newgate cried out a warning, they were on the fifth floor for heaven's sake. But to their surprise Luffy did not fall. Instead his fingers found the window ledge as he fell.

When he looked up he saw the barrel of Newgates gun and the man saw the fear in his eyes.

"Now, Luffy come up here and…" but he never got a chance to finish as Luffy simply let go, apparently willing to risk falling five stories then try his luck with them. He was forced to drop the gun as his enormous hands closed around the boy's wrist before he could slip out of their grasp again. He felt a sharp sting as Luffy's teeth sunk into his hand but he didn't let it slow him as he hauled the boy back into the room, holding him up by his wrists.

As he did he was able to make out the terrifyingly familiar black specks speeding down from the hills.

"Shit!"

The wolves were here.

Luff saw this as well and he lashed out, catching Newgate in the knee causing the man to drop him in surprise. The kid once again made a dash for the window only to be stopped by the familiar echoing of a gun.

He gasped, hands flying to his side as he turned to glare at Garp, betrayal in his eyes. Garp lowered the hunting rifle and said something to Newgate who agreed.

"It's okay Luffy." He told him, "You're safe now."

Newgate, who was closer tried to grab him but he pushed his hands away as his knees gave out.

The large man caught the teen before he could tumble once more out the window.

"Tranq?" He asked his friend as he laid the sleeping boy out on the table.

Garp nodded as he came up beside them staring transfixed at his not so dead grandsons face.

"You pointed a gun at him?" Garp accused.

"There were no bullets in it." He defended. It was an intimidation tactic.

Garp nodded satisfied as he ran his fingers through Luffy's glass filled hair.

"How?" He asked finally.

Newgate only shook his head. "We can ask when he wakes up. For now my friend we have wolves to deal with."

Garp nodded finally tearing his eyes away from Luffy. The questions were burning a hole in his gut. But he knew Newgate was right. This was not the time to be getting sentimental. The job always came first. Then afterwards he would be able to finally ask his beloved grandson just what the hell was going on.

"Somebody needs to tie him up." He said as he grabbed his real gun from the locker. "And search him otherwise he will cut the ropes, make sure to check his boots." Where Luffy always stored his knife.

"Call reinforcement hunters." Newgate said as he closed the door. There was no way the hunters they had on retainer would be enough to take on that many by themselves.

Little did he know they were already on their way.

 **XXX**

Ace pushed forwards at full speed yelping loudly every time he landed on his sore leg. Although to be fair by this point they were all his sore legs. Since he had dropped off Sanji he had accumulated many more bullet wounds all of which slowed him down. The hunters were close, so close they had tried to run him over a few minutes ago. However he had managed to pull ahead once more at a safe enough distance to avoid the next round of bullets. It was a good thing they were drunk as their aim was even worse then usual. Luffy said they shot like stormtroopers, whatever that meant.

Even for him this plan had been unbelievably risky. He swore that Sabo better not be doing anything more dangerous than this, although he had doubts there was such a thing.

Ace whined in pain as a misguided bullet ricocheted off the town limit sign and buried itself into his thigh, severing one of the tendons. Not good.

Generally bullets had less effect on wolves, but that's not to say they didn't have their limits as well. And Ace was reaching his.

He was close to town. He could see the lights from here. The wolves were already there. But the alarms had been blaring before they so much as stepped foot within the town limits. Not to mention he didn't smell even a whiff of the vampires. He smiled to himself, had his brothers ever let him down?

Another spray of bullets caught him in the haunches and his back. He yelped as he was forced to slow down even more. They were going to catch him at this rate.

The high beams were shinning directly on him now, practically blinding him. He heard them laughing from the back of the trucks and he squeezed his eyes closed as unpleasant memories came rushing back to him. God he hated hunters.

He huffed with determination. This was different he wasn't some scared kid anymore. No they had messed up and let him get away when he was a child. They should have killed him, they really should of. Because now he was strong and tough and much less forgiving and he would destroy the hunters if it was the last thing he did. Definitely not today but soon.

Kicking his bloody legs into overtime he leaped off the road and into the grass, following an old deer trail to town. The trucks relentlessly followed him. The tires ripping up plants and dirt as they turned.

He was taking them to the cliff that overlooked the town. The same spot horney teenagers liked to make out. He was putting all his hope in the fact that his body would survive the fall. Theirs would not. Humans were very weak after all.

Ace heard the yells behind him and the incessant shouts of monster but he didn't stop.

"Wolves!" The nearest hunter cried from his spot in the truck bed. "Their invading town."

"Kill this one first."

But Ace was already jumping. He reached the ledge in a matter of seconds and launched himself off.

And then he was airborne. The amazing yet nerve-wracking feeling of free falling as he plummeted to the ground. Which if he was remembering correctly was on the outskirts of town. He should be safe.

'I think I am going to be late to the meet up spot.' He thought as he collided with the rocky ground, sliding down the cliff. It felt as though pins and needles were stabbing his body.

With the last of his energy he clawed his way over to an overhang, which would hopefully keep him out of sight from the hunters. He slunk his body into a thorn bush and pressed himself to the back where nobody would accidently stumble across him.

'Sabo's going to be so mad,' He thought as he passed out.

 **XXX**

The battle was over before it had even began. Garp had managed to get word out to the citizens to stay in their houses, which as it turned out came in handy when the wolves directly targeted the shelter only to find it abandoned. By some miracle the backup hunters had arrived within minutes. The military had been called but they arrived too late to do much except clear the wolf bodies and make sure the townspeople were alright. Thank god Luffy had been wrong about the vampires or this could have gone a very different way.

Still the town was frantic with panic. The people were terrified. For the first time in years! No decades wolves had directly invaded. This was their town, their home and they had been attacked by a small army. And although casualties had miraculously been limited to a handful of military men and hunters an elderly man and a very unpopular math teacher Garp knew they would not forget this for a while. His phone was ringing off the hook but he knew his son could handle it. Right now his attention lay elsewhere.

He felt the intense glare the moment he and Whitebeard entered the room.

Luffy who was tied to a chair scowled up at Garp.

"You didn't have to gag him. Garp said untying the bandana around his mouth.

"He bit me," Luffy's 'guard' complained showing Garp the mark. He was positioned in Garps military force but honestly there wasn't much of a future there for him. Garp dismissed the man as the two turned their attention to the kid.

"Let me go!" Luffy spat at them clearly angry.

"Luffy!" Garp's voice was serious. "Tell us what's going on." He truly did feel remorse that this was how he reunited with his grandson. But he didn't understand, Luffy was supposed to be dead. He saw the blood. If he wasn't then where had he been all this time? Why wouldn't he come home? And why did he choose now of all times to come back, when the town was being invaded by a pack of wolves. But it wasn't like he had any intention of staying. Garp knew the second he got free Luffy would be out the window before he could blink.

He sighed wearily as his friend shot him a look. They needed answers and they didn't have time to play this nice.

"Son, we need you to tell us how you know this." Newgate said coming up from behind him.

Luffy stared up at him for a minute before turning his gaze back to the window. "My friend told me."

"Who's your friend?"

"I don't know." Luffy puffed out his cheeks the way he always did when he was lying and looked away from Garp's intense glare. The man sighed rubbing his face tiredly.

"Luffy why are you doing this? Who are you protecting?" What could possibly be more important to him then his home town?

"We need to know if we can trust you boy." Newgate said loudly.

"I don't care if you trust me or not." Luffy said as he began to wiggle against the ropes. "I just wanted to tell you about the wolves."

"And it would help us even more." Garp growled out, his emotions threatening to boil over. "If you started explaining." Why was Luffy acting like this? Keeping secrets, Lying, why was he trying to leave Garp again? He just got him back. Didn't he realize that losing him had been hell. Yet he was acting like he didn't even care. He just dropped inexplicably back into Garps life without batting an eye and tried to disappear again the very same way.

'Why wouldn't he tell me he was alive.' Garp thought again biting back the unpleasant thoughts that crowded to the front of his brain.

"Edward, Can I talk to my grandson alone for a minute?" His friend threw him a questioning look but Garp held strong. The large man nodded and left the room making Luffy shift his attention to his grandfather somewhat wearily.

"I'm not going to tell you. Even if you hurt me."

"Jesus Luffy I'm not going to hurt you." Garp said sinking into one of the chairs. "I just need to understand why you are doing this."

"I'm not doing anything." Luffy said confused. "You're the one who won't let me go."

"Where would you go!" Garp finally blew up, the emotion surged inside of him as he slammed his fist into the table making Luffy flinch. But he was too upset to care. "What is so important that you would put it above your town, your home and your family?"

Luffy only stared up at him, his big eyes wide with what Garp suspected was a mix of fear and anger.

"Was it…was it Ace?" Garp finally asked after a long beat of awkward silence. "Did he tell you about the wolves?"

Luffy shook his head slowly and Garp knew he was telling the truth.

"Then who?"

"Let me go!"

"Luffy," Garp sighed. "Help me understand what's going on. I can help you."

"I don't need any help." Luffy reminded him. "You guys are being attacked, I just came to warn you."

He looked down at his grandson, feeling a fresh batch of regret flood through him. Luffy had gotten so big. What happened to the wide eyed little boy whose smile could light up a room. He was acting so cold and serious to Garp, like he was the enemy. That thought made his chest hurt.

"Why didn't you come home?"

Luffy looked up at him thoughtfully, an unusual expression for him.

"You won't listen."

"I'm listening to you right now. You're the one refusing to talk to me." Garp had to fight to keep his voice level.

Luffy looked him square in the eyes with a defiant face Garp recognized as Dragons. "You made me be a hunter!"

"It was best for you." Garp responded caught off guard. That was what he was mad about?

"No," He shook his head resuming struggling against the ropes. "It was what was best for you guys not me."

"So that's what this is!" Realization dawned on him like a ton of bricks. He felt his blood boil once again with rage. "You're mad at me? Your trying to punish me by staying away is that it?"

Luffy's eyes grew wide as Garp's tone rose to a thundering pitch that shook the walls.

"DON'T YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED WE WERE? How could you do that to your own family?"

There was a second of silence after Garp finished that the two of them stared at each other before Luffy scowled in anger, glaring at Garp.

"How could I?" He screamed back, "How could you? You were supposed to help me! You told me you would look after me but you lied! You left me, you sent me away! How could you do that?"

"What are you talking about? I never sent you away." Garp answered back confused. "Are you talking about the night you disappeared?"

Garp had to stop himself from taking a step backwards. Surely Luffy couldn't blame him for what had happened, although he still didn't quite know what had happened considering Luffy was still alive. "Luffy," He started his voice softer. "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you but I had no way of knowing."

The night he had disappeared Luffy must have been wandering the streets, as he was apt to do after his mother died and a wolf had grabbed him. At least that's what they concluded. As tragic as it was it happened occasional in the town. Small children were easy targets for the predators in the woods. Although this was the first recorded case of a missing person to return alive. Back when it happened Garp had been in denial, his relationship with his son was deteriorating and no one could claim that Dragon had been a good parent after Makino's death. He had gone as far as to accuse his son of neglect in front of an embarrassing number of people.

Instead of the angry retort he was expecting Luffy's face crumpled into confusion. "You didn't know?"

Now it was Garps turn to be confused. "Luffy, how could I know a wolf would grab you."

Luffy shook his head, still confused. "A wolf didn't grab me."

"What are you talking about?"

"He didn't tell you?" Luffy still sounded confused.

"Who?"

"Dragon," Luffy said impatiently. "He didn't tell you he was the one who took me into the woods"

Garp breathed in a deep breath. "What?" Had he heard that wrong? "Why would he do that?"

"The hunter exam," Luffy reminded him impatiently.

"He would never do that." Garp told him. "You were too young."

Luffy threw him an angry look. "He did do it! And everyone let him because he was the leader." At least the ones who knew. Dragon had told Luffy that Garp knew about the exam and was fine with it. He dug his fingernails into his palm in anger. His father had lied to him again. All this time he had been careful to stay away from Garp, assuming his grandfather would immediately side with Dragon.

Garp was silent for a long while, when he finally spoke he sounded much older.

"My god, are you alright"

"Yea I'm fine now," Luffy told him obviously.

"You passed then?"

"No I failed, a wolf tried to kill me" He told him annoyed. There was a lot of blood after all.

"How are you alive?" Garp breathed.

"I was saved," Luffy told him once again stating the obvious.

"By who?"

"…I don't want to tell you."

"Why not!" Garp snapped before catching himself and lowering his voice. "Luffy I already told you I just want to help."

"Then let me go." Luffy said once more. How was he expected to trust Garp if his grandfather didn't even trust him.

A flicker of fear passed through Garp's face as he seemed to contemplate the situation he was in.

"Are you really saying you will stick around if I do?" Luffy could hear the disbelief in his voice.

"It doesn't matter," Luffy told him honestly. "You aren't going to let me go no matter what I say."

They both knew he was right. This wasn't about Garp it was about the town, Garp couldn't afford to risk his job on Luffy's morals.

"You were wrong about one thing."

"Huh?"

"The vampires, they never came."

Luffy's face broke out into a triumphant smile. No doubt he knew why. But fat chance he would share any of this with Garp. Not anymore. Probably not ever again. It was clear Luffy's mind had been made up and Garp was now grouped with the enemies.

He felt like crying, something he very rarely did. He had been too hard on Luffy as a kid, he knew that. But it was only to make him tough and strong. After Makino's death Garp pushed Luffy wholeheartedly into his training. He had loved that girl like a daughter and it was the only way to ensure the same thing wouldn't happen to Luffy. He had been closer to this kid then his own son. A piece of his heart died that day in the woods when they found his blood stained clothes.

He wondered briefly if Luffy had been brainwashed, mind controlled or even lied to.

He put his hand on Luffy's shoulder and watched in horror as Luffy wiggled back.

"Do you honestly think I am going to hurt you?"

He felt a weigh lift when Luffy slowly shook his head.

"You won't be the one." Luffy said slowly.

"What does that mean?" The weight was back.

"You won't hurt me." Luffy explained. "But I won't tell you what you want to know so you won't let me go and others will come. They will want to ask me questions that I won't answer and eventually they will get mean."

Garp realized with horror what Luffy as talking about. The military, the hunters, the town council hell even Dragon himself will not tolerate treason, which is what they will call this especially considering Luffy's hunter background. Under the hunter patriot act Luffy had defected meaning his human rights were gone. They would not be satisfied by his silence. And eventually, if he did not cave they would torture him to get the information they wanted. He only now realized how much danger his grandson was in.

His fingers dug into Luffy's shoulders, "Luffy, please you can end all of this just tell us what we need to know and I can help you. Whoever your protecting it's not worth it."

Luffy smiled at that. "It is." He argued softly.

And Garp knew at that moment that he wasn't ready to see his grandson broken. Even if that meant losing him again.

Luffy tensed as Garp walked over to the desk where Luffy's weapons had been confiscated. He inspected the pocket knife with disbelief. He looked at Luffy questioningly but the kid just shrugged looking down at his feet.

Maybe Garp hadn't lost Luffy comepletly. He squeezed the knife reassuringly before turning back to his grandson who was watching him nervously. He tried to ignore the way Luffy tensed as he unzipped his hoodie.

The garment wasn't even half unzipped when Garp froze. Luffy wasn't wearing a shirt underneath, who knows why, he probably shredded it for some dangerous reason. But down his chest were ugly and somewhat faded scares. Some recent but most much older. He saw a cigarette burn on his collar bone and his stomach turned.

"God." He whispered unable to tare his eyes away.

"Luffy? Who did this to you?"

Luffy didn't answer him. He didn't expect him too. His grandson was alive, he had kept the knife. For now that would have to be enough.

"Take care of this?" Garp said tucking it into the top of his sleeve next to his bicep where it would stay for about an hour or maybe two, depending on how tight the ropes were, before Luffy would be able to dislodge it and maneuver it into his hand. Garp had been in these types of situations more times than he cared to admit, he had it down to a science by now. By then blame would be off both him and Newgate and he would finally have an excuse to fire that useless military man who checked Luffy for weapons.

"Sir, you need to address the town." Someone knocked on the door.

Garp hastily zipped up Luffy's hoodie and ruffled his unruly hair before he got up and opened the door without looking back.

"Watch him closely." Garp told the man impassively. "If you let him escape we are all in trouble."

The man nodded terrified. "Yes sir."

 **XXX**

Smart wolves know when to abandon ship.

The lone wolf made it out before the first wave of hunters came. And he got a leg for his troubles. Thanks to that dumb blonde vampire maniac (who he hated) the vampire army wasn't going to back them up. In fact thanks to the three of them this little buffet was turning into a wolf slaughter. Although it wasn't Luffy's fault. He had no doubt tripped the alarm but it was only because he was misguided by that hell spawn cross breed and the heartless parasite who used Luffy as a blood whore. Weren't they supposed to be protecting him instead of feeding on him? And now they had just let him run into danger and where were they? Probably slacking off.

Luffy was the first human EVER to side with the forest dwellers. He empathized with their point of view. He knew he did, he had seen Luffy saving wolves from traps on numerous occasions. He spoke their language for heaven's sake.

And what do the two monsters do? Brainwash him into helping the humans. What their motives were he did not know but they must be purely evil. He would save Luffy no matter what.

He would wait here for him until he safely made his way out of town, no matter how long it took. The wolf settled down on his haunches to wait.

 **XXX**

 **A while back I wrote a glossary for this story where each character is assigned a role from the original legend and it talks about the main red riding hood themes and where they are I this AU. I know that's a little over the top for a fanfic but I need to reassure myself this is indeed not a twilight fic because if it was I would have to reevaluate my life choices.**

 **Long chapter** **this mini arc is wrapping up but it will give way to another serious mini arc before shit goes down and the army's start massing. I will hopefully update again next week or the one after that** **I am trying to get lots of writing done before school starts up again. Poor Garp so many feels and from his POV none of them are Luffy's. I should get to it next chapter but Law called off the vampires because Sabo took out too many of their guys. But now Sabo is in a lot of trouble, so is Ace. And once Dragon is introduced he will stop at nothing to take Ace down. This will cause tension between the two of them since so many wolves died.**

 **x**

 **Lostdoggy (to answer your questions) : Thank you** **Unfortunately we won't see much of this battle. Ace, Luffy and Sabo kind of diffuse the fight before it even starts. The real fight will start soon. No, Sanji just works at a bar that's always full of hunters. Zeff is an ex-hunter so Sanji's learned a lot from him but he's not actively trying to become one. Zoro's training is largely off screen and its with his dojo and some of the fellow hunters. He just started though. Mihawk (if I remember) is going to be mentioned later. I think some warlords are going to appear but I can't guarantee which ones yet. I usually just write as plot bunnies strike me so some of my old ideas get scrapped. I can promise Dragon is going to making an appearance really soon though. Thank you for your lovely reviews** **they always make me smile.**


	19. Chapter 19

"Are you sure this is where he fell?" Thatch asked as Sanji frowned.

"No, but it's my best guess."

"Way to go." Zoro said sarcastically.

"What if the hunters get to him first?"

"They have their hands full with the invasion." Marco said grimly. Although it looked like it was the wolves who were on the run instead.

"Stop!" Zoro said suddenly as Marco slammed on the breaks.

"What?"

Zoro was already leaving the car. He knelt near the bushes showing them his hand. Blood.

The rest of them followed him, shifting the car into park.

"Ace!" Thatch called in concern.

"Here," Zoro said finding a trail of crushed shrubs and drying blood. He traced the trail to a particularly thorny bush trying to pull it aside only for pin-pricks of blood to appear on his arm. The thorns were deceivingly sharp.

"Ace!" Zoro called as Sanji came over to help, tearing up his hands to push the bushes aside.

They saw patches of dark fur streaked with wet red patches. Sanji grabbed the wolf and tried to pull him out only for him to growl and try to snap at them weakly before burrowing deeper in the bushes.

"Ace, please we just want to help."

The wolf let out a low growl as the two of them managed to pull him out of his hiding place.

Zoro had once seen an injured cat crawl into a bin to hide. He suspected Ace was doing the same thing. As what was basically considered a second class creature he couldn't afford to let anyone find him.

Ace let out another warning growl as they pulled him out. His eyes were half lidded and it was clear he was barley awake. Still every time they tried to lift him he would snap at them viciously.

Marco and Thatch came over and knelt by him as the four of them tried to lift the large wolf. His fur was soft, far softer then it looked. Ace let out another low growl as he thrashed about trying to viciously bite their hands.

They managed to load him into the back of the truck, but only after each one received a bite-mark.

Ace passed out sometime during the ride home, his injuries were obviously bothering him, although he didn't show it with how loud he was being. Marco worried that with their luck someone may hear and alert the hunters or something. Thankful the streets were still deserted.

With limited options they decided to take him to Marco's place as he was the only one with a garage so they wouldn't be spotted.

The four of them together managed to carry Ace into the living room, which was a lot easier when he wasn't trying to maul them. While Thatch and Marco pathed up Ace's wounds Zoro and Sanji went out looking for the other two brothers, which as it turns out wasn't as much of a chore as they thought it would be. Zoro found the Luffy after only an hour. He was at the town boundary a little worse for wear but much better off then Ace.

In the meantime Ace had woken up and resumed snapping at everything that moved, once again reminding Marco of a cornered cat.

He only pause his incessant growls when he saw Luffy, who receive a large lick across the nose.

"Are you okay?" Luffy asked sinking down besides his brother who was trying his best to pull his beaten body over to him. His large languish wolf tail was pounding against the floor so intently Marco was worried someone outside might hear.

Ace settled his head in Luffy's lap digging his snout as far as he could into his brother's stomach before giving off a low growl.

Luffy frowned and looked at the teens behind him before turning back to Ace, scratching his ears absentmindedly.

"It's fine Ace." He told him.

Ace apparently didn't agree and let out a bark that made the nervous teenagers in the doorway shush him.

Luffy ignored them as he rolled his eyes in response. "And I say its fine."

Not liking the answer Ace barked again, earning him another round of shushes. Luffy's hand tightened on Ace's pelt and temporarily stopped its ministrations before continuing to scratch his ears.

"What is he saying?" Thatch asked. "We have been trying to figure it out for the last hour but he keeps growling at us."

Luffy looked up at them thoughtfully. "Ace thinks you're going to double cross him."

Ace had apparently elected not to tell them that as he snapped at his brother lunging at his hand only for Luffy to pull it away before Ace could bite him.

"Stop it!" He said irritated, "Or ill bite you back."

"Why would Ace think that?" Thatch asked rather hurt.

"Because that's what usually ends up happening." Luffy said. Ace huffed in response as if reminding his brother of the facts.

"It will be fine this time!" Luff told Ace again, only louder this time.

Ace once again voiced his disagreement.

"Then trust me!" Luffy told him.

Ace did not look pleased at this but he laid his head back on his brother's lap circling his tail around Luffy sending the teenagers a glare.

"Ace we would ever do that!" Thatch cried, outraged by the thought Ace still didn't trust them.

Ace sent them a snort that didn't need to be translated, but Luffy did anyways further adding to their sour mood.

"That's what they say as well." He turned his attention back to Ace, running his fingers through the dark fur. He found the stained patches of fur and frowned.

"Ace what happened?"

"He got shot by hunters." Marco told him tapping the first aid box with his foot. "We tried to patch him up but he tried to bite off our hand every time we got near."

Luffy looked down at Ace who glared back at him. "And you call me reckless." He said to which Ace growled back in response. He reached across the wolf for the first aid kit only for Ace to snap at his fingers. He pushed his snout away in order to grab the bandages.

"Don't be such a baby!"

Ace snapped again, this time nipping his palm, biting deep enough to break the skin.

"No I won't! stop it."

"Do you need any help?" Sanji asked unsurley as he watched Ace chomp down again, this time catching a bit of his finger.

"That will just make him worse." He told them once again pushing Aces snout down as he tried to bandage the wounds.

"Are you okay?" Sanji asked Luffy. "You don't look so good yourself."

Luffy looked down at his jeans picking absently at a hole in the fabric. He felt guilt well up inside him at the memory of his grandfather's face. He had hurt Garp. He could tell that much. What was worse was the fact that Garp didn't have anything to do with his disappearance. It would have been so easy to tell his grandfather he was still alive but he thought Garp would tell Dragon and the hunters and they would take him away from his brothers.

Luffy could only shrug in response.

"You look like crap."

He looked down at himself realizing it was true.

"I got tazed." He said distractedly. "….and pepper sprayed."

"Where's the blond one?" Sanji asked.

"Sabo?" Luffy's frown deepened. "I don't know. I need to go find him." He rose despite a whine from Ace just as the sound of a key sliding into the lock got their attention.

They all froze for a second looking at the door. Then in the next second the teenagers scattered. Thatch made a dash for the kitchen while Zoro and Sanji took off upstairs shoving each other the entire way.

Marco and Luffy helped Ace limp behind the couch. Thankfully the space was large enough for the skinny boy and smallish wolf teen.

Marco was just covering the blood stain with a rug when his father walked in looking like his sports team just struck out.

"Hey dad." Marco greeted casually from his awkward place standing in the middle of the living room.

"Thank goodness you didn't get caught up in the violence." Whitebeard said relieved as he put down his crossbow.

"Rough day?" Marco guessed as he walked to the kitchen to get his father a drink. Thatch was hiding behind the counter and put his finger to his lips. Marco hoped his dad didn't decide to go into the kitchen. Although Thatch's sudden appearance would be a lot easier to explain then Zoro and Sanji's. And all hell would break loose if he saw Ace and Luffy.

"I'm sure you heard about the commotion in town today?" The man said as he took the drink gratefully.

Marco watched in horror as his father walked into the living room sitting down on the very couch Ace and Luffy were hiding behind.

"Of course." Marco said a little too quickly as he followed his dad into the living room.

"Well on top of that, remember that boy from the photo."

"Which one?" Marco asked trying to keep his tone casual as he clenched his fists.

"The little one, he payed us a visit at city hall today. To warn us about the alliance. Still it messed Garp up. He hadn't seen the kid in like seven years or something like that and his grandson hardly even looked at him.

Behind the couch Ace looked up at Luffy who refused to meet his eyes, although his hands did tighten on the pelt. Luffy didn't want to talk about it or think about it right now. He most certainly did not want to hear how he hurt his grandfather. Things with his family were… complicated to say the least. He didn't know who he could trust and who would hurt him. The only one who he could always trust was his mother, but she was gone now. Just thinking about it caused a phantom ache in his chest. The moment he saw his grandfather all those feelings he had repressed came rushing back full force. He didn't know if Garp was going to hug him or kill him or even remember him. All he could think was how he may never see his brothers again.

Ace nosed Luffy with his snout letting him know he was breathing too loudly. The early stages of a panic attack. If they were discovered now that's exactly what would happen, he would never see them again. They would kill Ace, punish him for the bloodline, make an example out of him no doubt. Luffy too, although they wouldn't kill him. Instead the disciplinary comity would have their fun. That's what happens to hunters who defect or abandon their position. Luffy had heard enough horror stories about them growing up. Rumor had it any of the members could break a full grown man's spirit in under half an hour with only a paperclip. He didn't know if that was true or not but he didn't want to ever find out.

This train of thought was doing nothing to calm his breathing. Luffy closed his eyes and he buried his face in Ace's soft fur trying to keep his breath under control.

Ace blinked up at Luffy with understanding eyes and something told Luffy he knew exactly what he was thinking about. No doubt the same thoughts crossed his mind. Luffy hugged Ace tightly ignoring the patches of wet fur. He wouldn't let that happen, besides he didn't want to even think about what would happen to their other brother if they didn't come back.

"Then we somehow managed to lose the kid. Who knows how?" Newgate's voice cut back in.

Luffy hardly payed attention as he instead listened for Aces heartbeat. A little faster then he would have liked but Ace was strong. He would survive, he always did.

"So are you going to look for him?" Marco asked.

"If we haven't found him after all these years I doubt now will be any different. He knows how to disappear and for whatever reason he doesn't want to be found. What's more concerning is that wolf boy Ace. He could be bad news for us."

"How do you figure that?" Marco asked tensely.

"Well he's somewhat of a loose cannon. He could potentially be some kind of rallying point for the wolves."

"The prince of wolves." Marco recalled what Doflamingo said.

Newgate's eyes widened. "How did you know that?"

Marco shrugged quickly. "Just something I heard somewhere. I can't remember now though."

The man gave his son a careful look. "I would be very careful who you share that with. There are some that fear Ace is going to try to finish what his father started."

Marco elected not to ask who Ace's father was knowing full well his father wouldn't tell him. He did however add, "How do you know Ace wants to destroy the village."

Newgate sighed deeply and for the first time he seemed much much older. "There is a lot of history there son. I have to admit that the hunters have made a lot of mistakes. The town has made many as well. And after what happened to that boy I can't imagine he carries anything good in his heart about humans or this village."

"Maybe you underestimate him." Marco said somewhat heated.

Newgate put his drink down as he rose to his feet. "That's a nice thought son." He patted Marco on the head as he pulled his coat back on. "I have to head back. I just came back to make sure you were alright."

Marco waved at his dad as he closed the door behind him. Making sure to lock it when his father was far enough away. As he turned back around he saw four faces and one snout peeking out at him from their various hiding places.

"That was a close one," He told Luffy as he crawled out from behind the couch.

Luffy didn't reply. His face uncharacteristically serious. If Marco had to guess he was thinking about what his dad said.

"I have to go find Sabo." Luffy said, "Its way past when he promised to meet so he's probably worried.

Ace let out a bark as he tried to rise to his feet only for Luffy to push him back down.

"No you stay."

Ace let out another bark. Quite loud this time.

"You're not fine. I promise I'll come back as soon as I found him."

"Can you guys look after Ace for me?" Luffy asked the group.

They all nodded with the exception of Thatch who looked at Luffy then back at Ace who was growling.

"Is he going to dismember us if we get too close?"

Luffy tilted his head confused, "Why would he do that?"

"Because I'm pretty sure that's what he's been threatening to do all day. I mean I don't speak wolf but I'm reading between the lines here."

Luffy frowned. "He's not angry he's scared. You would be too if you were a wolf and everyone was trying to kill you."

Ace barked, furious at his brother for saying that. In that moment it was very easy to imagine the wolf as human and yelling at Luffy. Probably blushing as he did it.

The teenagers tried to shush him to no avail.

Luffy petted Ace's head, despite his brother still being angry with him. He allowed it as his worry for the kid's safety overshadowed his embarrassment.

"I'll be right back." Luffy promised as he turned to leave.

Ace watched him slip out the door. Pulling his hood up as he left. Once Luffy was out of sight Ace turned his attention back to the teenagers, making sure to be extra short tempered to let them know he was neither pleased with them nor afraid as Luffy had suggested.

"So is that why you didn't like us at first?" Marco asked after a few minutes of tense silence. "Humans always screw you over."

For his part Marco was starting to understand Ace and Luffy a lot more. No wonder they were so close since the world around them was insane. Ace was mistrustful of humans because they made him that way. Luffy didn't like the village because they would try to take him away from his family. And Sabo… well to be honest he had no idea about Sabo. The vampire was still a total mystery.

Ace laid his head down on his paws letting out a huff.

"You don't really seem like you want to take over the world though?"

He flicked his ear thinking about what that old man said. Sure he hated the town, quite a lot actually. That's also why he disliked most people instantly. But to be fair he didn't care for other wolves or vampires either. It's not like they showed him any kindness when he was a pup. He could be bitter and hateful about humans without being homicidal and hell bent on destroying hundreds of innocent families.

Satisfied that he had stopped growling at them the teens settled down around the living room. Content to keep the wolf company while he waited for his brothers to come back.

 **XXX**

 _Sabo watched from the doorway as Luffy approached the wolf, a brush in hand._

 _Ace looked up at him decidedly unimpressed as he let out a loud growl, warning the child to stay away._

" _He says go away." Sabo translated for him as he leaned against the door frame._

" _But your fur," The little kid pointed to the young wolves pelt. "It's so dirty."_

 _Ace let out another bark translated by Sabo._

" _That's how he likes it."_

 _Luffy settled down besides Ace on his hands and knees. "But your fur is so pretty. You can look like Mr. Tibbits."_

" _Who?" Sabo asked for both of them._

" _The neighborhood cat." Luffy told them to which Ace responded with a huff of air in his face. Loudly telling the boy he was not amused._

" _Leave him be if you want to keep your fingers." Sabo told Luffy._

 _Luffy ignored the fledgling as he brought the brush to Ace's tail. The response was immediate and completely expected as Ace lashed out and bit Luffy's hand angrily. It was just enough force to draw blood but not enough to do permanent damage. It was a warning._

 _Luffy yelped as sucked the area._

" _I told you!" Sabo said with a sigh. "Now will you come on already?"_

 _Luffy shook his head stubbornly as he picked the brush back up intent to do Ace's tail only to receive the same reaction. This time Ace's teeth sunk deeper into his hand._

 _Somehow Luffy managed to hold onto the brush as he shook his hand making a face._

" _Ouch!"_

 _Ace sat up, his tail thumping irately besides Luffy's legs. Luffy tried once more only for Ace to snap at his hand. He griped his tiny finger in his jaws and shook it fiercely trying to get his point across._

" _Ace enough!" Sabo said as he pulled Luffy's arm free._

 _Ace growled at both of them as he stood up, walking pointedly out of the room._

 _Sabo frowned as he knelt down besides Luffy inspecting his bloody hand. "You're going to need stiches on that last one." He told him dismayed. "Why did you do that? Just leave him be and you wouldn't have gotten hurt."_

 _Luffy pouted. "Ace's fur is really dirty. I want to clean it to thank him. Maybe then he wouldn't be so itchy and mad."_

" _All you did was made him angry with you." Sabo told the child as he went to go grab the medical kit._

" _He's always angry." Luffy told him when he returned. "And he ignores me anyway so it doesn't matter."_

 _Sabo sighed as he took the tiny hand into his slightly larger ones. There was a lot he wanted to tell the human child, he wanted to somehow make him understand why Ace was like this. But he didn't know how to even begin so instead he remained silent._

" _This is going to hurt." Sabo said as he threaded the needle._

 _Outside on the deck Ace's ears lay flat against his head as he heard Luffy yell in pain. He lay his head on his paws as he tried to ignore the grunts of pain. It was all his own fault after all, honestly what a stupid kid. Most humans were at least intelligent enough to know that when a wolf growls you leave them the hell alone. Why on earth couldn't Luffy figure that out?_

 _At the very least Ace figured he must have learned his lesson this time._

 _Except apparently he hadn't._

 _In the following weeks Luffy turned his attention on grooming Ace. Ace reacted very negatively to this and in turn gave the kid many more stiches on his hands all the way up to his elbow. The latest one Ace snapped and took a real divet out of Luffy's palm. Sabo had to intervene that time._

" _Are you suicidal or just incredibly stupid?" The young vampire yelled as he was yet again stuck patching Luffy up. By the eighth or ninth attempt his temper was officially frayed. Which was very hard to do._

 _Luffy just stuck out his cheeks. "His coat is messy!"_

" _So! Who cares? Just leave it. Ace can take care of himself"_

" _I care!" Luffy retorted. "You keep saying he can take care of himself but he doesn't. And you let him!"_

 _With that the tiny human got up and stomped off before Sabo even had a chance to finish on his hand._

 _The vampire sighed as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. Luffy's words mulled around in his head. He had never seen the kid angry before. Was that why Luffy was so insistent? Because he was trying to look after Ace. It as a weird thought considering he couldn't even look after himself. Although he did have a point. Ace could take care of himself but chose not to. And he was supposed to be Ace's friend but instead he choose to sit back, content to merely observe Ace's destructive behavior._

 _Sabo groaned. When the hell had his life gotten so complicated._

 _He found Ace easily as the young wolf was near the pond outside. Sabo sighed as he sat down next to him. Ace looked up at him curiously._

" _I might… owe you an apology."_

 _Ace gave him a weird look, no doubt asking why._

" _I think Luffy might be right about somethings."_

 _Ace rolled his eyes at that turning his attention away._

" _No! Listen. You are self-destructive. This we know." And by now Sabo knew it was something they would have to live with until Ace either decided to change or he managed to go too far and get himself killed. But that didn't mean Sabo should go along with it. Especially not since Ace was his only friend in the world._

" _But I think I should probably be looking after you more. I mean I know you would do it for me in a heartbeat. Even if you don't care what happens to you, I do. Luffy too apparently…So I'm sorry."_

 _Sabo got up and brushed himself off before leaving to go find Luffy._

" _And for heaven's sake stop biting him. I'm tired of having to patch him up each time."_

 _Ace put his head down on his paws and let out an odd sort of growl that sounded a bit like a whimper._

 _Sabo patched Luffy's hands up. He did it the next time as well although Ace had listened and Luffy didn't need stiches this time around. The injuries got increasingly milder at each attempt. Although Luffy's hands still looked worse for wear. The stiches were still healing and they were covered in so many bandages and bruises that it looked like something out of a horror movie._

 _Finally at the fifteenth attempt Ace looked over at the brush then Luffy's beaten hands and folded._

 _Sabo wasn't sure if it was because Luffy had worn him down or he couldn't find a place on those tiny hands that wasn't injured._

" _I never thought I would see the day where you met someone more stubborn then you."_

 _Ace growled back an insult making Sabo laugh._

 _Luffy, who was busy brushing Ace's dirty fur paused to look over at Sabo._

" _I don't think you are an…ass…. Hat?"_

 _Sabo's eyes grew wide as he and Ace shared a shocked look. Had Luffy understood Ace? They looked back at the kid who was making headway with the grimy pelt. That was surprising. Sabo didn't know of a single human who could understand the wolves. This was an interesting creature after all. He would be almost sorry to see him go. But he didn't belong here after all. Once the found his grandmother Luffy would go back. It was for the best._

 **XXX**

Sabo woke up from the midst of memories somewhat disoriented. There was a weight on his chest and a splitting feeling in his head. What's more was something felt weird…off. But a good off, a lighter off. Like the things he thought mattered were all put into perspective and he realized he was being silly. In the grand scheme of things none of this was important. And even if it was he still didn't care.

The second thing he realized was that he was starving. Whatever he had eaten before had been burned up along with his energy reserves. If he didn't get something to eat right now he may literally keel over… although he was already laying on the ground. He could smell the sweet coppery smell of blood just above him, practically feel the way the blood sloshed around in the veins. It felt like everything else was muted except his need to feed, which was stronger than ever.

He opened his eyes to find the sky was dark. A familiar figure was above him speaking desperate but hushed words, asking him to get up and to be all right.

Sabo obeyed, although more out of hunger than anything else. He sat up wearily pressing a palm to his temple. Only to be tackled back into the ground again as the human hugged him tightly.

"Sabo what happened? I looked all over for you!" It said in distress. "You weren't at the meet up spot so I got scared. Then you wouldn't wake up. You aren't hurt are you?"

All the noise the creature was making was making his headache worse. He felt himself be pulled into a hug so tight that it was impossible to ignore the smell of the heartbeat.

"Say something!" The human said miserably. "You're okay right?"

"Luffy?" Sabo said to stop his loud rant as he grabbed his shoulders pulling him closer.

"Yea?"

Not even bothering to fight the urge the vampire sunk his fangs deep into the human. He felt Luffy go stiff with surprise. It wasn't until he tore deeper that it tried to instinctively pull away. Sabo however was much stronger as he easily pinned the human to the ground. Luffy writhed in pain under him.

"What…what are you doing?" It panted trying to free itself.

Sabo just shushed him, feeling the teen go slack under him.

This was bound to be entertaining. At the very least it would give him something to do.

 **XXX**

 **Like usual I apologize for the extended absence. Last semester tried to kill me slowly and painfully. I will spare you the gory details of the life of a broke and idiotic science major. Anyway I have much more time this semester so hopefully I will get a lot more chapters out. I already started chapter 20 which is about Sabo and his recent bout of insanity. Chapter 21 should be another backstory chapter. I threw the Luffy stalker in last minute in chapter 7 not anticipating it would get so much attention. I hope it is a good enough reveal. Please ignore spelling mistakes as I am half asleep and terrible at spell checking. Please tell me what you think!**

 **Guest #2**

 **Deal! I won't abandon this. This story is my happy place. My life was just quite hectic, I would have much preferred to write over studying. I'm really glad you like it!**

 **Alexandta27**

 **¿Aceptarás hermanos muy cercanos / almas gemelas platónicas?**

 **(google translate)**

 **Guest #1**

 **(cries) I hope I never accidently write twilight fanfiction. On that day I will know it's officially time to give up. I'm glad you like it.**

 **Cheshire Kat02**

 **Yes! And then no to the later, it's a male wolf. I'm glad you liked the chapter.**

 **lostdoggy**

 **Yes! And more about how Luffy felt about meeting Garp. At least he had mixed feelings about it as well. More Luffy past in chapter 21 so hopefully soon. Not at all, I love answering questions.**

 **I hadn't really given Zeff much thought. I guess he probably was something like a hunter. I think he retired before he saved Sanji so he could open up his restaurant/bar. So far the wolf that attacked Luffy is just a random dudette and not so much a villain. As much as I hate non-canon characters there's a bit of a morale there that fits with the story's theme. Bluejam gets his own special role much later on as an actual evil villain.**

 **I don't think Garp and Ace know each other very well. They probably haven't even met or if they did it as just in passing. Hopefully this chapter shed some light on the Ace stuff. Everyone knows of Ace just no one actually knows him.**

 **I'm really glad you liked it.**

 **Rin27**

 **Yay! Thank you. I'm glad you like it.**

 **poemado**

 **thank you!**

 **Insomniac Dormouse**

 **More backstory! And more in chapter 21! Sabos not quite right unfortunately. I will try to have a new chapter soon. Thank you soooooo much for the review!**

 **SEllen23**

 **Thank you for the nice words! I can neither confirm nor deny. I'm really glad you liked it though and hopefully you will like this one as well.**


	20. Chapter 20

Luffy woke up quickly dazed and confused. His head felt light and he had a killing headache. The instinctual feeling of danger flooded him and he began to thrashing around. Before he could begin to process his surroundings he was dropped to the hard forest ground.

He squeezed his eyes shut as the memories of the last few hours came rushing back to him.

He had left Ace to go meet up with Sabo only to find him missing. Only Sabo wasn't at the meet up spot. Luffy managed to find him hours later unconscious but relatively unharmed. Luffy had gotten scared when at first he didn't wake up but eventually he was able to get the vampire to open his eyes. Then things had gotten weird as Sabo attacked him, taking his blood, something he had never done before. At least not without asking and most definitely not when Luffy was yelling at him to stop.

He looked up at his brother wearily.

"Sabo?"

Sabo dropped down to his knee's so they were eyelevel. "Yea?"

"What's happened to you?"

"What do you mean?" The teen asked innocently.

"You're scaring me." Luffy told him as he ignored the urge to scramble backwards.

Sabo lightly ran his hand over the wound on his nape making Luffy wince. It was mostly dried by now but it was still fresh enough to sting.

"I bet" He said with such a lightness in his tone. As if they were discussing lunch.

"Did the vampires hurt you… ?" Luffy asked worried.

"Not quite, it's not important." He pulled Luffy to his feet, supporting him when he staggered

"Now come along there's something I need you to help me with."

"No!" Luffy tugged his wrist. "Ace is really hurt. He wants us to come back quickly, I left him alone in the town. What if hunters find him?"

"Ace will be fine," Sabo said tugging Luffy's wrist harder forcing him forwards.

"He will not, you know how much he hates town." He dug his heels into the dirt trying to get Sabo to slow down. Instead the vampire tightened his grip on his wrist until it became to painful and he stumbled forward with a loud yelp.

"What's happened to you?" Luffy asked in concern as he tried to pull free.

Sabo finally let go with a laugh. "You're really messed up you know that?"

Luffy's brow furrowed. "What?"

"You said I'm scaring you." Sabo took a step closer. "Then why don't you leave? Why are you still going along with me?"

When Luffy didn't say anything the vampire leaned forwards and slapped him so hard he nearly fell backwards.

"What are you doing?" He asked clutching his swollen cheek.

Sabo rolled his eyes in response as he began to walk away. When the younger boy didn't move Sabo stopped gesturing for him to follow.

"Luffy come," He commanded like one controls a dog.

"But Ace is the other way!"

"Yes yes I am well aware of your codependent relationship, come on already."

Luffy frowned confused at what was going on. He didn't understand any of this. Why was Sabo, his kind older brother acting like this? Why didn't he care about Ace.

"Come now!" Sabo snapped, another thing Luffy had never heard him do before.

Frowning he ran to catch up. To his surprise instead of being cross the vampire began to laugh.

"I told you your messed up." He shook his head in amusement. "Not that I can't see why but still."

Luffy looked up at him with wide eyes, unsure of what to say. Sabo was truly scaring him. He wanted him to stop. He didn't know what to do.

"You won't put up with crap from anyone else but if it's me or Ace you don't even say anything." He stepped closer making Luffy shift uncomfortably. "I bet we could do whatever we wanted and you wouldn't even do anything. Are you that scared of being along? Or maybe you just don't care what happens to you as long as you're not with the hunters anymore."

Luffy dug his fingernails into his palm biting his lip. "Please stop." He didn't want to hear anymore. "Why are you saying this to me?"

Sabo shrugged, "I'm just pointing it out. Now come on."

Luffy shook his head, his hands clutched the hem of his hoodie. His eyes were stinging. Today had been exhausting, he couldn't take much more of this. He watched wearily as Sabo approached gripping his chin tightly.

"Come!" He commanded again his eyes glowing. Luffy found that he had no choice but to follow him.

He narrowed his eyes in disbelief. Sabo had told him about this once. It was the power only vampire nobles had. He had promised to never use it on Luffy or Ace. He would never have wanted to. Free will was a subject that wasn't taken lightly, especially in their household.

He tried to drag his feet but one look from Sabo and he found himself almost eager to keep up.

"You're not my brother." Luffy accused.

Sabo snorted at that. "I can assure you Lu I am."

"Sabo is strong and kind, nothing like you." Luffy snapped with unusual anger in his tone.

"If you say so." Sabo said patting the kid on the head.

 **XXX**

"Somethings wrong!" Ace insisted as he pace around.

"Ace you're overreacting." Marco said as he watched the teen, who had shifted back, pace around the living room. Actually it was more of a limp as he was in no shape to be moving.

"I'm not, they should have been back by now. It's been hours."

"Maybe they got caught up in something." Thatch pointed out to his distressed friend.

Ace shook his head. They both knew how much he hated being in town. They wouldn't do that to him. No something had definitely happened and there was no way he could just sit here when the only family he had left was in trouble. No he had to help them.

He looked down at the sweater and pants Marco had lent him.

"Can I borrow these?" His plan was contingent on his friend saying yes.

"Uhh sure?"

Ace thanked him shortly. He doubted he could have gotten out of town as a wolf nor stark naked.

"Thank you guys for helping me." He said honestly. "I'm sorry about your leg." He told Sanji as he brushed past them.

"Nothing a few Band-Aids can't fix." Sanji said as he caught Ace's arm. "Where are you going?"

"I need to go find them."

"You can't help anyone like that." Marco pointed out.

"We won't know till I try Ace said as he gently pulled out of the blonds grasp. "Thank you, I mean it but I can't just leave them."

Marco sighed as he ran his hand over his face. Honestly why did he always end up strait back in the woods.

"Wait… I'll drive you."

 **XXX**

So lost was probably a strong word but Koala was rather worried that it was the correct one. She hoisted the gun onto her shoulder as she checked her GPS. Still no word for the rest of her teammates. She had gotten separated from them when she had strayed off the path, the first rule about being a hunter. She hadn't gone far yet she quickly learned it had been far enough. Thankfully her radio still worked but nobody from the group was picking up.

She had been set on a reconnaissance mission after the wolves had taken a citizen back to the woods with them. She was starting to think it had been more of a suicide mission. Of all days to die why did it have to be today? What would her poor mother say. She pursed her lip as she turned around wondering if she was even headed in the right direction.

"Just my luck" A new voice said from behind her.

Koala whirled around her hands automatically reaching for her gun.

A man… or teenager stood behind her. He had been so silent she hadn't heard him approach. That should have been her fist clue.

The first thing that registered in her mind was that he was handsome. The very second thing was that he was a monster and the last thought she would ever have was positively idiotic.

In his arms he held a boy who was struggling and failing to break out of the creatures hold.

"Good evening," It greeted with infuriating politeness even as she raised her gun.

He frowned at that. "You're a hunter right? I thought you were supposed to be more intelligent than that?"

"Let the boy go!" she shouted hoping she sounded braver then she felt.

"Run!" The kid shouted before the thing covered his mouth with a gloved hand.

"Hush you!" He told the kid with a maddening self-satisfied smirk which perfectly showcased his two pointed teeth.

Koala stumbled back realizing her mistake too late. He was a vampire. She had never met a real one before. In training they had taught her that guns were all but useless with them.

"Look Lu," His tone was calm and smooth like glass. "A hunter, your favorite."

The kid yelled something too muffled for her to understand. She reached into her boot drawing out the stake. She had prayed she never have to use it but it looked like tonight was the lucky night.

"I didn't know hunters could be so beautiful."

"I didn't know vampires could be so annoying," she shot back raising the stake. "Now I'm going to say this one more time. Let him go."

The vampire seemed to think about that for a moment before nodding. "Alright, this is bound to be good." He let go.

"What's say you Luffy? Do you want to go with the nice hunter Lady?"

When the kid got free he scampered away from the vampire but he most certainly did not go towards Koala, instead he regarded her with weary eyes standing equidistant between the two of them. As if he liked neither of his options.

"It's okay," Koala gestured urgently at him. "I'm one of the good guys. You'll be safe with me."

The vampire actually laughed at that. She glared over at him as he wiped his eyes trying to get his mirth under control.

"That depends on who you ask," He said as he approached her. She raised the stake in response feeling her heart beat quicken.

"Run!" She cried to the boy as in an instant the vampire pounced. Before she could process it the stake was knocked away and she was left gasping on the ground. She struggled as she felt a knee planted on her back stopping her from rising.

"Why don't you stick around Luffy?" The creature said confidently. "You wouldn't want anything to happen to our pretty friend would you?"

Koala grunted as she was roughly hauled up to her feet, strong hands on her wrists prevented her from attacking.

To her surprise the boy did not run, he remained in place staring at both of them with wide eyes.

"Come here!" The vampire said again, commanding this time as the boy reluctantly made his way over to them despite Koala's yelling.

The creature nodded in satisfaction as he patted the teens head like one would a well behaved dog.

"I've got to tell you I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to find anyone in time." He said shoving Koala forwards and forcing her to walk. "You guys are going to help me so much."

"With what?" Koala gasped as she tried to twist away.

"There's a task I promised someone I would do. Otherwise I go back to the way I was before."

"I liked you better before." Luffy said sullenly.

"The feelings mutual." He agreed.

 **XXX**

"That's as far as I can go," Marco told Ace as he reached the trail head.

Ace was already outside his head up to the sky as he tried to separate the different scents.

"Luffy has been through here." Ace said more to himself then anything.

"Can you track him?"

"I'm not a dog." Ace repeated scanning the woods with his dark eyes.

"Since when?"

"I'm a wolf there's a difference."

There wasn't really. They were the same genus and everything although Marco decided to keep his mouth shut on that one. He probably wouldn't like being referred to as man's best friend either if he was Ace.

"But can you find him?"

"Maybe," Ace said as he turned back to his friend.

Before either fully realized what they were doing Ace instinctually leaned forwards and licked Marco, exactly like his old dog Moby used to do when he was happy.

Then he was gone, lost to the darkened woods. It was clear he didn't want Marco to follow him.

The teen leaned back against his car. He was pretty sure this meant Ace liked him, or at the very least that was the sincerest way to say thank you that he knew. H wondered if that was Moby's way of saying thank you as well. For someone who claimed he wasn't a dog Ace acted a lot like one.

"I've got weird friends." He mused to himself.

 **XXX**

They had been walking for what felt like hours. The vampire did his weird glowing eye thing on her and Koala had no choice but to obey. She tried desperately to resist but nothing was working. She could tell that the boy was having a similar problem. She had thought, overconfidently no doubt, that she could handle a vampire. After all her training had to pay off right? But after actually running into one she realized three things rather quickly. First she was by no means prepared, second Vampires could control minds and no one thought to tell her and third they were freaking polite. It was madding really. Not that anything he did was very civil but his tone sounded like they were on an afternoon stroll rather than a death march. His accent and fancy word play made her want to crack open a thesaurus to see if these were actually words or he was just making them up. She was fairly confident superfluous wasn't a real word.

"What?" The vampire asked as Koala kept glancing over at him

"Nothing." She said turning back away crossly.

"You're obviously thinking something." He said. "And I am growing quite bored. If you don't tell me I am going to start picking on you guys again."

Koala shuttered. The last thing she needed was more reverse psychology. This particular monster had a knack for finding your weak point and digging around in it. In fact she was fairly sure it was his idea of fun. Sort of like that one kid she used to go to school with who got his kicks out through winning at chess. The vampire teen had passed most of the time messing with both of them. He had attacked Koalas resolve, her chosen profession and her all round place in society. It had been even worse with the kid. He somehow seemed to have endless knowledge of the boy and made a sport out of upsetting him.

She could tell that's exactly what he was going to start doing again so she cleared her throat. If she was going to die anyways she may as well ask her question.

"In training we learned that you can sometimes identify vampires because they look to perfect to be human." Truth be told Koala had never met a real vampire before but she had seen pictures and they had looked like ugly saps. She had never expected they could be young… and blond.

"I've only ever met ugly monsters so I thought it was a myth until now."

A moment passed and she realized her mistake too late covering her mouth. Besides her the kid rolled his eyes

"I'm flattered you think I look 'perfect'." He said with a teasing smile making her heat up in embarrassment.

"Shut up," She said angrily wishing she had just kept quiet. At least then she could have died in peace.

"To answer your questions Vampires are supposed to be attractive to humans so we can lure you guys 'off the path' as the saying goes. But it's only the purebreds and nobles that it goes for."

Huh? She didn't know that there was even such a thing as a class systems in vampire nests. She suppose that this kind of knowledge was only known in the higher up circles.

"Now I have a question for you." He said with a smile.

"What?" she said warily.

"Why are you dressed like that? That's not very hunter like."

She looked down at her outfit. It was nothing special, just everyday street clothes. But he was right hunters didn't usually wear these kinds of clothes while on the job.

She pursed her lip challenging him.

"You might as well tell me. I'm going to find out anyways."

She knew the threat was real. And the glowing eyes thing made her teeth chatter so she caved, seeing no harm in it especially if she was about to die anyways.

"It's my mom's birthday today. I wasn't on call but it was an emergency so I came." She said between gritted teeth. Her mom hated seeing her in the hunter clothes, so much so she often burst into tears. Needless to say she did not approve of Koala's decision. Since this was her birthday Koala planed on showing up after her scouting trip to take her mother to dinner.

She squeezed her eyes shut at the thought of her mom sitting alone, tears in her eyes as she got the call that Koala wouldn't be able to make it home tonight nor ever again.

'I'm so sorry.' She thought as a tear leaked down her cheek. Both boys noticed, she knew they did. But they didn't say anything.

She wiped her tear away harshly and dried her cheeks all the while viciously fighting the vampires hold on her mind.

They continued on in silence for another hour or so no one saying anything. They didn't encounter another monster but she knew they were there. Every so often she would catch glimpses of red peering out at her from the dark woods. She gathered they didn't feel up to challenging him for his prey so they stayed away, merely observing.

Finally the blond came to a stop, forcing to two of them to follow suit.

"We're here." He said proudly. As far as Koala could see it was just a clearing surrounded by many tall boulders. Although she could vaguely see some weird text carved on the rocks. Near the center there were some crumbling ruins, obviously from a long time ago. They surrounded what looked like a stone table of sorts. It was the only thing that wasn't crumbling or weather beaten.

"What are you going to do to us?" She challenged as he forced them to sit down besides each other, his eyes flickering red briefly with the effort.

"You'll know in time." He promised as he turned her around roughly, rummaging through her backpack until he found some rope.

"Stay still." He told them seriously as he began to bind their arms. He left her legs free so she could walk but bound the kid's ankles tightly together.

"I can't hold you guys forever. It's starting to wear me out." He told them wiping sweat from his forehead. He had started to breathe harder as well. At the very least she was glad they were able to put up a fight.

"Sabo just stop!" The boy pleaded as he tried to break the ropes.

Koala could feel him shaking hard against her side. She tried to pull free to no avail.

"It's okay I won't let him hurt you." She promised, unaware she was the cause of his shivers.

"What exactly are you going to do to stop me?" The vampire asked in amusement as he hauled her back onto her feet.

"Sit tight Lu, I'll be back for you."

"Don't you dare hurt him." She said struggling viciously.

"I would be way more worried about yourself." He told her. "You're the one who is going to get hurt."

Her breath hitched at that as he pulled her across the clearing.

"What are you going to do with us?"

"I told you, your helping me with a chore. You are going to be the offering."

"The offering?"

"Yes trust me it's a lot scarier than it sounds." When she staggered he pushed her forwards harder than necessary.

She squeezed her eyes shut trying not to cry. This was it, it was really the end. At the hands of a know it all vampire.

'I'm so sorry mom.' She bit her lip squaring her shoulders. If she was really going to die she was going to die bravely like the well trained hunter she was. Not crying like a little girl.

"What about that kid?" She asked hiding the waver in her voice.

"Why do you care? It's not like it'll matter to you?" He pointed out.

"Humor me." She spat back. At the very least she wanted to know what she was dying for.

He is going to be the blood sacrifice," he told her. "I told you I'm doing a favor for some people and in exchange they won't change me back."

"Back to what?"

He gave her a mischievous smile. "What indeed?"

"Here we are?"

She looked down in surprise. In the center of the clearing was a hole, a huge one.

"What's down there?"

"A bunch of old vampires." Sabo told her rummaging through her pack once more.

"Why?"

"You ask a lot of questions."

"You're going to kill me the least you can do is tell me why."

"They were sealed down there after the fall of the king of wolves." Sabo told her as he roughly turned her around. "With the human monster war approaching once more some people think it would be nice to bring them back again."

"Who sealed them in the first place?"

"It's a long story," He sighed as he began to untie the ropes on her hands. "Basically those who supported the Wolf King were sealed away when he died by those who didn't."

"And you're going to break the seal how?"

"With you." He told her patting her head approvingly.

Before she could ask what he meant she felt the ropes on her hands come undone and his arms lifting her up against his chest.

"Congratulations," He told her with a smile.

"You're the snack."

As her mind wrapped around what he said the world tipped sideways as he threw her into the hole.

 **XXX**

Sabo heard her scream as she fell. He glanced at the moon overhead anxiously. This had taken much longer then he intended. He had to get the timing just right otherwise the spell couldn't be broken and the vampires would revert him back.

He instantly heard the hunter girl scream up at him. He gathered she didn't like him much. That was a pity since he rather liked her. She was almost as fun to toy with as Luffy. It had been a while since he met a hunter with as much spunk as she had. He could tell she was biting back tears the whole time but at least she got brownie points for attitude.

He shook his head making his way back over to Luffy who looked up at him as he approached.

"What did you do to her?" He demanded as Sabo bent down next to him, rummaging around in Luffy's boot for his knife.

"Do you care?" Sabo asked as he picked up the squirming kid. When Luffy glared at him he just shrugged. "She's alive. For now at least. The vampires in the underground crypt were tired and weary. Barley alive. They would eventually sense her and be unable to resist. But that could take some time.

"Stop squirming!" Sabo told Luffy as he dumped him onto a stone table near the ruins.

"Let me go!" Luffy insisted.

"Well since you asked nicely." Sabo said securing the ropes to the chain link in the stone. He watched Luffy squirm for a moment with a sigh. It was almost time but not quite.

May as well have some more fun with the kid. After all they had been together seven years. If that wasn't grounds for some mind meddling Sabo didn't know what was.

His parents had loved to do it, especially to him. He had never seen the appeal until now but he was pleasantly surprised he had as much talent for it as they did.

He slid closer to Luffy who tried to wiggle away only to find the ropes were too tight.

"Want to hear a secret?"

Luffy shook his head.

Sabo continued anyways, grinning like a kid in a candy store. "Did you know that if you die, which you will, then Ace's going to die as well?"

"What?" Luffy frowned in confusion. "No he won't." He would be sad, very sad, but he would still have Sabo… at least once their Sabo came back to them.

"He will!" Sabo said happily as he tightened the ropes. "There's something we haven't told you yet."

"What?" Luffy asked feeling worry in his stomach.

"Well he didn't want you finding out, especially not like this but if you die he dies because he is bonded to you?"

Luffy's brow raised in confusion as he stopped struggling momentarily. "What? Like his parents were?"

"Sort of? Except that was kind of different because they were all romantic and what not."

Luffy barley registered him as he looked away. "Why… Why didn't Ace want to tell me?"

Sabo grinned as he leaned against the stone. "Well for starters you would worry. Secondly it means you can't have a normal life, not even when you get older. At least not if you want Ace to be happy."

Luffy bit down on his lip as he watched his brother put the knife down beside him. Luffy's knife, the one Garp had given to him long ago, the same one he carried with him everywhere in his boot. He saw how happy his grandfather was when he realized Luffy still had it. The thought that Sabo was going to use it to kill him made him inexplicably sad.

"Know what's even better than that?"

"Sabo please stop!" Luffy begged. He couldn't take much more of this. It took a lot to upset him but Sabo knew exactly how to do it.

Once again Sabo ignored him as he patted Luffy's head comfortingly. "Hush," He command his eyes burning red and in that moment Luffy clamped his mouth shut without meaning to.

"What would you say if I told you Ace killed your mom?"

Luffy opened his mouth, relieved to find that he could again. "I would say you were lying." He said immediately. For one thing Ace would never do that. For another he had seen the entire thing He knew who killed her and it most certainly was not Ace.

Sabo only shrugged as he stood up. "Maybe, maybe not. What I can say is you should ask him. See what he says."

That was it, Luffy had been pushed too far with that last one. In the last twenty four hours alone he had come face to face with his grandfather, he had been tazed and hunted ad gassed. What was worse was Ace was off hurt and afraid thinking Luffy was coming back. If Sabo really did kill him then Ace would die too and it would be all his fault. Not to mention his now evil older brother who was saying all these horrible things.

Luffy felt his eyes prickle. He shut his them trying to hide his tears from the ruthless vampire. Still he couldn't help the two that fell down his cheeks, nor the two after that. He sniffed trying to get his emotions under control.

The last thing he wanted was for not-Sabo to see him crying and lay into him the way he had been doing. To his surprise he felt something soft on his cheek. He opened his eyes in surprise to see Sabo wiping his tears away with his sleeve.

"Shhh," He shushed softly. He was looking at Luffy with concern. "Don't cry Lu. It's going to be okay."

Sabo was acting like he usually did when Luffy was upset. This only confused Luffy more. He didn't understand any of this, did Sabo truly feel bad or was this just another game.

"Please let us go." Luffy said as Sabo met his eyes. For a split second he thought Sabo was going to do it. Then the vampire turned away.

"Why are you doing this? You love me and Ace, I know you do? Sabo doesn't do things like this. He isn't mean, he doesn't hurt people. He doesn't hurt me!"

Sabo sighed as he ran his gloved fingers through his blond hair. "It's really me Lu." He picked up the knife. "And I do love you. That's why I'm not going to put you in the pit."

"If you love me then don't do this!" Luffy squirmed away from the knife as best he could being tied up.

"It'll only hurt for a bit." Sabo promised, "Then you'll be free and no one can ever hurt you again."

"NO!" Luffy yelled as the knife came closer. Try as he might he wasn't strong enough to break free of the ropes. "

"Listen Lu, dark times are coming for the humans. This is far kinder then any of their fates. You and Ace won't have to suffer."

"What about you?" He asked feeling a new set of tears well up in his eyes. Sabo was really going to do this wasn't he?

Sabo sighed as he took off one of his gloves. "Only you would still be worried about me. Now hush it's almost time." He forced the glove into Luffy's mouth.

Luffy stilled as Sabo leaned down to kiss his forehead the same way he had a million times before. Only this time it was to say goodbye.

He saw the glint of the knife and far above them he saw the stars. At that second he wanted nothing more than too stare up at them for hours. They were so beautiful, how had he never realized that before. He could see the Dog Star that Sabo had showed him, besides that was Ace's pudding star and way in the corner of the sky was the brightest star. His grandmother told him that that's where the angels lived, that that's where his mom went.

He wondered if this is what she felt like too. He hoped not. He didn't want to think she had been scared or in pain in her final moments. Until right now he hadn't understood how much it hurt to be betrayed by someone you loved. It wasn't so much anger as it was confusion. No doubt why she had looked so surprised.

He shut his eyes wishing on that bright star that the horrible memory wasn't going to be his last thought.

 **XXX**

Ace had picked up their scents a long time ago. It was feint but by know he had lots of practice tracking Luffy. He had a tendency to get into trouble after all. Being bonded helped as well. He was able to pick out Luffy's trail easier.

What concerned him was the trail led him straight into vampire territory. Somewhere he had warned Luffy never to go. Although he understood why as far within it he picked up Sabo's smell as well. He knew enough about tracking to know that the vampire had been laying down, probably knocked out, when Luffy found him. He smelt other scents as well but they were older. What was most concerning was he smelt blood, Luffy's blood. It started from where he met up with Sabo.

It wasn't that surprising Ace reasoned. After all Sabo had no doubt been drained after facing all those bloodsuckers? So what Ace didn't get was why they hadn't doubled back and returned to the village. The blood spots had been dry for hours and as far as he could tell it was just Sabo and Luffy who continued on from here. Why wouldn't they come back for him? Hurt prickled in his stomach although it was quickly replaced by fear. Something was very wrong indeed.

He stood up a bit too quickly and was forced to kneel down panting heavily. Marco was right, this was the last thing he should be doing right now. Just walking was a chore, let alone running through the woods and stumbling into trees like a lunatic. Still he couldn't afford to take a break.

Using a sapling for support he climbed back onto unsteady feet, following the trail as quickly as he could without blacking out.

He stumbled further, picking up an unfamiliar scent as he did. A girl this time. The three of them continued together from there.

Ace frowned as he urged his aching body faster. There were times where he could feel Luffy. Very distantly but it was there none the less. It was only in times of extreme emotion. It was like an instinctual thing. He often wished he could for Sabo as well but his brother was a vampire and historically wolves and vampires did not mix. As such there was something in his mind preventing him from bonding with the boy. A species feud that was rooted deep within his gene's. Ace didn't fully understand it but he got the concept. Either way he knew both of them were still okay, relatively so at least. He could feel it through Luffy. The same way he could feel the teen was upset, heartbreakingly so.

Ace paused at a tree tilting his head to try and block out everything else in order to focus solely on his senses and their bond.

He could distantly smell salt…or rather tears.

"No!"

He had heard that one loud and clear

Acting purely on instinct Ace took off, tearing each one of his stiches in his haste. Even as his legs threatened to give out on him he kept running. His body didn't matter to him, not nearly as much as protecting his treasures.

 **XXX**

Sabo brought the knife down at exactly midnight. You had to be precise with these things. Vampire magic, it was ridiculously strict. Perfect as his parents would say. Now he would be perfect as well and all he had to do was kill his little brother. Usually he would care, feel bad, feel something. But what Sabo quickly discovered when he woke up without any of his usual emotional constraints was that he was finally free. Love, anger, guilt, happiness, sadness, fear and compassion were all distractions. They were for lesser creatures like the one below him. He finally understood why vampires were the superior race and why they would ultimately always win.

The more you cared the more it opened up the possibly for hurt until you were so trapped in your life you lost sight of the bigger picture. It was the weak human's faults. Sabo had been able to hurt them so much more with words then he ever could physically. This made them weak in his books. What he failed to realize was these same bonds made them strong. They made the impossible possible.

As such he wasn't prepared for a pissed half wolf to barrel into him at top speed knocking the knife from his hands.

"Ace!" He cried in surprise as Luffy gave a muffle yell.

"What the hell Sabo!" Ace cried as he tried the wrestle the weapon away.

Sabo kicked Ace in the ribs as he made a grab for the knife only to be knocked backwards by the teen.

"You're going to ruin everything!" Sabo screamed in fury as he dug his knee into his brothers wound making him double over in pain.

While he was distracted Sabo grabbed the knife stepping over Ace as he approached Luffy. He grabbed his hair tilting his head back as he tried once again only to be tackled by Ace before the knife could even touch him.

"What are you doing?" Ace cried as he clocked Sabo across his face somewhat weakly.

Sabo didn't reply as the two of them tumbled around in the dirt. Sabo was running out of time. He had seconds left before midnight passed and the opportunity would be gone for the month. Sabo didn't care about that though. He had been told that if he failed tonight they would cancel the spell placed on him and everything would come rushing back into him. He was terrified of that happening.

"Freeze!" Sabo commanded as Ace came to a reluctant stop. He scrambled for the knife as he felt Ace fighting his hold. It worked much better on humans then it did wolves. His hands were shaking with adrenaline as he grabbed the knife and held it to Ace's throat looking him in his eyes.

Ace looked confused, possibly a little betrayed but worry shined in his gray eyes muting everything else. The concern wasn't because of the knife at his throat but rather for Sabo himself.

With that one look Sabo felt horror well up in his chest. It was at this moment he realized he had failed and the spell had been broken. His soul had been returned to him.

Sabo dropped the knife as he sunk to his knees in front of Ace. He brought his hands to his mouth at the horror of what he had tried to do.

"Ace?" He asked although it came out more like a whisper.

Ace looked down at him his emotions written across his face plain as day.

"Sabo?" He asked cautiously.

Sabo nodded as Ace slid down to the ground as well in relief.

"Are…are you okay?"

Sabo shook his head, his hands still covering his mouth. "No."

Ace leaned closer wrapping his arms around his brother lightly, like he was going to break apart any second. He rested his cheek on Sabo's shoulder feeling the shutters wrack the others body. Vampires couldn't cry. But he was willing to bet if they could Sabo would be crying. Ace really didn't understand anything. He didn't get why Sabo had tried to kill Luffy, he didn't get what had been wrong with his brother. All he knew was Sabo was back now and he needed Ace to not ask him any questions, at least not until he calmed down. He petted the blond's hair trying to tell him that it was okay now.

Sabo suddenly gasped and pushed Ace away as he stumbled to his feet. The girl, he could still save her.

"Get Luffy." He told Ace as he sprinted across the clearing. He crashed down beside the abandoned backpack rummaging around for her extra rope and flashlight. He tossed the bag aside, clutching the knotted rope in his right hand and the flashlight in his left as he knelt by the hole.

"Hunter?"

"Someone Help!" Her panicked voice floated up to him. "There's something down here."

Yea that was kind of the idea. He dropped the light down beside her as he worked on untangling the rope.

"Shine it at anything that moves." He yelled. "They don't like light."

Instead of listening to him she shined the light up at his face, blinding him.

"Not you," She whined. "You're the one who put me down here."

"Now I'm trying to get you out." He told her looping one end of the rope around his waist.

"Yea right!" She yelled as she used the flashlight as a weapon to ward off the creatures surrounding her. It was impossible to see them fully as they shrieked with the light, retreating back to the darkened areas. But the second the beam faltered they crept up on her again. Slowly and unsurely but with growing ferocity. They were collecting their strength, getting ready to kill. Sabo knew he had just moments left before he lost her.

"It's me or them." He told her, "Grab on and I'll pull you up."

"Fine." She hissed between clenched teeth. "But I want you to know I really don't like you!"

"I don't like me either right now." He sighed as he felt weight on the other end. Wrapping it around his palms he began to lift her up. He heard her scream as one of them grabbed her boot but he yanked harder praying he would win out. Sure enough they let go allowing him to drag her over the lip of the hole.

She was panting heavily and her ankle was at an odd angle, no doubt from the fall.

Sabo had never felt bad for hunters. He figured they were mostly asking for whatever death they got. But he felt for her. She looked about his age but not as worldly. She was still naive in her youth. He wondered if things would stay that way after tonight.

He looked at her mournfully.

"I'm sorry."

XXX

Luffy looked up with wide eyes as Ace approached. He couldn't talk but Ace knew he had been crying. The second Ace cut the ropes and taken the glove away Luffy threw himself at his brother hugging him tightly as he buried his face in Marco's shirt. He rested his chin on Luffy's head hearing him sniff. Ace liked to tease him about being a crybaby but now that he was older it took a lot to make him cry. Part of Ace didn't even want to know what had happened.

He looked up as Sabo made his way over to them. The girl sat watching them a ways away. She was visibly shaken but she wasn't seriously hurt. At least it looked like they had saved everybody so Sabo didn't have murder on his conscience. His brother looked like the worst out of all of them. Ace felt worry curl in his stomach. He hoped he was going to be okay. He was pretty sure the three of them had their fill of emotionally scaring memories. Any more just seemed like gross overkill.

"Sab?" Ace questioned softly as he ran his fingers through Luffy's hair. Sabo didn't meet his eyes.

"Can you manage getting back?"

Ace frowned. Now that his adrenaline had worn off he honestly didn't know. He was pretty sure he had reopened every wound. Even so they didn't have much of an option. He had made it this far on sheer will power alone, why not go back as well.

"We will manage." He said, "Luffy can help me right?"

Luffy nodded slightly against his chest letting him know he was still with them.

"What about you?"

Sabo looked back at the girl. "I have to make sure she gets back alright."

"Then you will come back… right?" Ace said, worry evident in his voice. He honestly didn't know what Sabo was thinking right now. It was rather worrying. He leaned forwards to give his brother a one armed hug. He felt Sabo stiffen at first before relaxing into the hug.

"When you return can you tell me what the hell happened?"

"Do I have to?" Sabo whined.

"Yes!" Ace said firmly.

XXX

Ace may have been forgiving but the girl was not as generous. Although to be fair she had every reason to hate him until the day she died. The least he could do was make sure that day was not today. He entrusted Ace and Luffy to look after each other before he made his way back over to her.

Her ankle was extremely broken and beginning to swell. It looked like a compound fracture. Still she had a hell of a fighting spirit. As he approached she tried to crawl away, knowing full well it was hopeless. Still Sabo could tell she wasn't ready to accept death yet.

"Wait!"

"Stay away from me!" She yelled as she tried to get up only for her ankle to give under the weight. She fell to the ground with a scream of pain.

"I want to help you." Sabo insisted as he bent down beside her.

"Funny that's not what you wanted a few minutes ago." She hissed trying once more to get away from him.

"You're not going to make it in the woods on your own." He told her truthfully. The wolves would tear her apart, especially as she was now. He doubted she would even be able to stay awake for more than ten minutes before the pain caught up to her and she crashed.

"I'm not going to make it with you either." She told him bitterly.

He could see that there was no way he was going to be able to talk to her sensibly. She would never trust him, especially not after what just happened. Steeling his resolve he ignored her screams of protests as he scooped her up. She struggled wildly, flailing about like a mad man.

"Put me down!" She demanded as he tightened his hold, making his way out of the clearing.

He had ever touched another human before. It was kind of strange. As a general rule Sabo did not like humans, most of the ones he met were selfish creatures who were as violent as they were greedy. He supposed the teenagers Ace and Luffy befriended weren't all bad, although he was a long ways away from trusting them. Although after watching the fight she put up and how brave she pretended to be Sabo couldn't help but feel a spark of admiration for the hunter girl. Maybe not all of them were horrible monsters. Although to be fair Luffy was still plenty scared of her. Sabo groaned as he added that to the list of things he needed to apologize for.

"What's the trick this time?" She asked as they made their way through the woods. "You pretend to help me then drop me in another hole?"

"No more holes he promised." One felt like enough.

"Then where are you taking me!" She said resuming her struggles.

"Home." He told her simply as her eyes narrowed.

"Yea right. One second you try to kill me and the next your Mr. Good Samaritan. What's the catch?"

Sabo did not want to be having this conversation. He didn't want to be doing anything. He wished the earth could swallow him up. But since that didn't look like it was going to happen anytime soon he had to deal with the consequences of the mess he made.

"The catch is I'm really sorry for scaring you and I'm sorry about your ankle."

"That doesn't answer my question." She told him pulling his hair.

He swatted her hands away. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me." She challenged raising her eyebrow.

When Sabo didn't say anything she persisted. "If you really want to help me like you say tell me what's going on. You owe it to me."

She got him there.

"It was a spell." He told her grimly.

"It made you act crazy?" Her voice was skeptical but at least she had stopped fighting him.

He nodded. "Like the one I was trying to do."

"Aren't vampires evil and crazy all the time anyways?"

He shrugged not sure how to answer. "Some of us are," He told her honestly.

"But you're like Casper the friendly vampire or what?"

His lips twitched slightly at that before returning to his grim expression.

"Trust me I'm not. I'm just not usually that bad."

They were silent for a while before she spoke.

"Those boys. Who were they?"

Sabo shifted wondering how to handle this.

"They are… were friends of mine. When I went crazy I really scared them."

"Are they going to be okay? I mean they're in the woods alone."

"They can take care of themselves." He promised. At the very least they could take care of each other.

She nodded satisfied.

"I'm sorry about your mom's birthday," He told her.

"Me too." She breathed as she leaned back in his arms. The pain and stress was finally working its way through her body now that the adrenaline was wearing off. Her ankle was beginning to throb like nobody's business.

"What's your name?" She asked him after a moment catching him off guard. She liked to catch him off guard. He made the best faces.

When he didn't answer she told him, "Mines Koala."

"Sabo." He said softly as she closed her eyes for a minute.

"s'nice to meet you Sabo," She said feeling another fresh wave of pain washing over her. She heard him call to her worriedly but she was too far gone to care. When another wave of pain hit her she blacked out.

When Koala woke up hours later she was in the hospital, her mother crying besides her bed side table. A thick cast was around her leg and her mother's warm hand was in hers.

 **XXX**

When Sabo came home much later he was unsurprised to find Ace and Luffy on the couch. They had both fallen asleep. Luffy still had his arms wrapped around Ace and his face was hidden against his shoulder. He suspected the night had traumatized the kid for probably the hundredth time in his young life. Sabo distinctly recalled telling Luffy he was messed up, amongst other things. He could see the swelling on his cheek where he had slapped him, just to prove the point. He did not have the heart to deal with this right now.

Sabo shook Ace awake gently and his concern grew when it took Ace a while to fully opened his eyes.

"Your back," Ace slurred as he sat up. "Did it go okay?"

Sabo nodded as he moved to get the first aid kit. Luffy wasn't lying Ace had gotten really hurt. Only Ace grabbed his hand stopping him from leaving.

"That can wait."

"No it can't you look like you've been through the works." Most of the bandages had come off when he fought Sabo.

"Yes it can!" Ace insisted pulling Sabo down to the couch with him. "Just talk to me okay. Tell me what happened."

Sabo shook his head. He didn't ever want to talk about it again. Although to be fair he definitely owed his brothers an explanation. He just really REALLY didn't want to.

"It can't be that bad." Ace reasoned.

"Of course it was! You were there." He could still see the image of Luffy's teary face begging Sabo not to kill him. Even without a soul Sabo had instinctively reacted, trying to ease his little brothers fear the way he had been doing all these years.

Sabo looked down at Luffy and then at the floor.

"I don't think he is ever going to forgive me."

"Sure he will," Ace told him. "This is Luffy we're talking about here."

Sabo shook his head. There were so many things he had sworn never to do, least he turn out like his parents and he had crossed every single line tonight. He had fed off Luffy by force, he had used his pureblood will on others and when he got bored he screwed with their heads, finding their weak points and digging around just to see what would happen. The very same thing his parents always excelled at with him.

"Just kill me it will be easier." Sabo bargained making Ace roll his eyes.

"Just tell me what happened? Why were you all psycho? It was because of the vampire's right?"

He nodded standing up. "I'll tell you if you let me bandage your wounds."

"Luffy bandaged them already." Ace protested shifting the sleeping teen to Sabo.

"He sucks at first aid." Sabo reminded him. He sucked at most practical things.

As Ace struggled to remove his shirt Sabo took Luffy to bed not willing to risk him waking up and having to talk to him as well. Just Ace was hard enough and he wasn't even mad at him. Thankfully the one good thing about anemia was it made you sleep like a log.

While he was at it he bandaged the nasty bite wound on his neck as well. He tucked his brother in giving him a kiss on the temple as a substitute apology.

When he got back downstairs he decided to forgo the stiches for now. Neither of them were willing to deal with the hassle tonight. As he methodically went about fixing his extremely reckless brother's wounds Ace coaxed the story out of him.

"So I went against the vampire army and I managed to stop most of them but it was all I could manage and I blacked out."

Ace had snorted at that but Sabo kept going, determined to get it all out before he changed his mind.

"Law took me back to Doflamingo and they used a sort of spell on me or something. They sealed my soul away and in exchange I had to do a task for them.

"How was it a favor if you didn't want them to do that in the first place?" Ace asked wincing when Sabo put the rubbing alcohol on a particularly nasty wound.

Sabo sighed. "When I'm in my right mind I want my soul of course. But not to feel guilt or fear or remorse or even love it's all very freeing."

"And it gives you a superiority complex," Ace muttered.

"That it does," Sabo agreed. It's why vampires were such assholes after all. "But it makes you weak. You proved that by beating me."

"How do you figure that?"

"Well for starters you stopped me, with like five bullet holes in you when I was all supercharged on blood and I had a knife."

"Yea how did I win?" Ace asked as he tried to swat Sabo's hands away from the wound on his shin.

"You were fighting for something." Sabo told him simply.

Ace smiled at him with one of his rare gentle smiles. "And now you are as well."

Sabo brought his knees closer to his chest as he buried his head. "Too little too late." He muttered angrily.

"What? Are you talking about Luffy? Are you sure he's even mad at you?"

"It wouldn't surprise me if he was." Sabo said bitterly. "I did try to kill him."

"Yea," Ace mused. I guess there's not exactly a card for that."

Sabo moaned as he laid his head in his hands.

Ace leaned closer putting his hand on his brother's shoulder comfortingly. "He will get over it Sab, probably before you."

"I told him you guys were bonded." Sabo said thinking he may as well put everything on the table.

"…Oh." Ace said somewhat taken back. "Oh." He said again softer.

"Are you upset?" Sabo asked peeking out from under his hands.

"No," Ace admitted. "It's my own fault for not saying anything sooner. Was he alright with it?"

"I mean immediately after that I told him that if he dies you die and then I tried to kill him so I feel like there may have been a better way to break the news."

Ace let out a whistle, "If that's not called ripping off the band aid I don't know what is."

"So you're okay with it?"

Ace shrugged. "I guess I have to be. You didn't tell him anything else right?"

Sabo looked down at the couch, picking a stray thread with his fingers. As much as he wanted to come clean there was one thing he couldn't admit to.

"No."

Ace sunk down lower on the couch as he ran his hands over his face. "Man today sucked."

"Tell me about it." Sabo grumbled.

"Let's go to bed," Ace said. "You'll feel better tomorrow."

"I don't want to go to sleep I want you to kill me."

"Nuh-uh." Ace tried to stand up only for his legs to give way on him.

"You didn't kill me like I asked when we had to sit through last week's gathering. Why should I do you any favors?"

Sabo helped him stand, throwing his arm out when Ace's unstable legs nearly toppled both of them over.

"What would I do without you?"

"Try to kill our little brother?"

"Ace!" Sabo gasped nearly dropping him in surprise.

"Too soon? Are we not joking about that yet?"

"It's not funny."

"If we only laughed at the funny things that happened to us our lives would be very joyless.

Well that was true but Sabo still fought the urge to push him over.

"Ace." Sabo said with a sigh as he put his hand on his brother's waist in efforts to keep them steady.

"Yea?"

"Go the hell to sleep."

 **XXX**

Dragon had a very long day. He ran his calloused hands over his face with a sigh. At least the death count was minimal. Although they realized a bit later that he had lost a fair amount of hunters in the process.

He cast a glance down at the picture frame on his desk. The only personal item in the entire office. He kept it face down when he had company as he didn't like to disclose personal information. He felt like it put him at a disadvantage.

Now that he was alone he stood it up in front of his computer. His wife smiled back at him her dark eyes shining with mirth. God she was beautiful. In her arms she held a little kid. His smile mirrored hers perfectly but his eyes were Dragons.

No, what was he doing looking at this when there was work to be done. He put the picture back down as he turned his attention to his computer seeing dozens of urgent messages he had to attend to. It was going to be an all nighter for sure. As he scrolled through the copious emails one in particular caught his attention. The tittle was in caps and it read: **'trust me you will want to see this.'** The sender's name was listed down as 'lone wolf.'

Frowning now he opened the file surprised to find a digital copy of a security tape. Upon closer inspection he realized it was from one of the military outposts on the edge of town. They had all been taken out before the attack. By dragons prediction they had been attacked roughly an hour before the wolves hit town.

He played the tape watching it fast forward through the night. True to his prediction the night had been uneventful until the wolf attack. It was brutal to say the least but the man had long since been desensitized to such violence. The crypticness of the sender was off putting but there was nothing particularly shocking about the tape. As horrible as the carnage was Dragon had been expecting it.

What he was not expecting was what happened fifteen minutes later. He was about to turn off the tape when movement at the door caught his attention. He thought maybe the monsters were back for seconds but to his immense surprise it wasn't a wolf at the door, nor a vampire, nor a man. Instead it was a boy in a hauntingly familiar red hoodie. He stood in the doorframe, a crossbow gripped tightly in his hands. He surveyed the bloodshed with a look of sick horror on his face until he had to look away. Just as Dragon thought he couldn't be more surprised a wolf joined the boy. Although he didn't seem to be interested in a human snack. Instead he pressed his snout to the kids hand and if Dragon didn't know any better he would almost think the wolf was trying to comfort him.

Clearly more used to the bodies the wolf walked into the lodge sniffing the air. The boy followed him still looking rather sick. They both took note of the broken radio panel.

The kid rested his hand on the wolf's shoulder like it was a damn lap dog rather than a cold blooded killer.

The man physically held his breath when the wolf turned its attention to the kid. Resting its forehead against his as it let out a low growl. But it wasn't just that, oh no. They were actually communicating. The kid could understand the growls and whines and the wolf answered back when he spoke.

He watched practically holding his breath as the monster pushed the kid away with his snout. The boy nodded reluctantly, turning on his feet and running out of the lodge. The wolf gave the body's one last reluctant look before taking off as well.

As the video ended Dragon realized there was text below the attached file. It read simply:

 _Thought you would want to see what your son was getting up to with the prince of mongrels._

 **XXX**

 **To make up for the prolonged absence here is two chapters. It is a little unpleasant of a story. I don't know how it turned so dark. Poor Sabo. But all's well that ends well right? RIGHT? It is also the halfway point for the story. From here on the tones going to shift a little as everyone prepares for an all-out war. I know I always say this but this time in particular the spelling is going to be messy. I promised my friend I would go with her to her sorority's party, ah the joys of college. So I don't have a ton of time to spell check but I promise if you bare with me it should all be corrected by Friday when I get back. In other news this story just hit 100K for the word count. That's a lot of words. Thank you so much for reading it means the world to me. Please stick with it even if you hated the chapter as I promise things will get going next time when we get into the fallout from this chapter (because it's going to be a big one.) Also Chapter 22 is going to be a big chunk out of Ace's past. Please tell me what you thought of this monstrously long chapter!**


	21. Chapter 21

The next day Garp was at Dragons door before the sun even had a chance to fully rise. Dragon opened it on the six or seventh knock. His face was tight and it looked like he hadn't slept in a while.

"Garp," He greeted coldly. "What are you doing here?"

Garp pushed in shoving the door open as he did.

"I have something I need to ask you." Garp said testily. And I need a serious answer."

"A little early for you to come bursting into my house isn't it?" Dragon commented as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Garp was in no mood for a heated debate with his estranged son. He needed answers and he needed them now.

"It's about Luffy."

Dragon stiffened at that for a completely different reason then his father.

"Listen Garp…"

"The night that he disappeared, how did he end up in the woods?"

"What?"

Garp pushed closer so they were practically nose to nose. "How did Luffy end up in the woods!"

Dragon stared back unintimidated. "The report said the wolves grabbed him."

Garp let out a low growl. "I know what the damn report said!" He all but bellowed. "I'm not here at five in the goddamn mourning to ask what the report said. I'm here to ask my son what his seven year old child was doing out in the middle of the night!"

Dragon remained silent, looking back at his fathers enraged face.

Garp's fury melted away as he ran a weary hand over his face. "Damn it Dragon," He muttered after a few moments turning away.

Dragon watched as Garp paced around the kitchen his hands systematically running through his white hair.

"How could you?" He finally asked. "That was your son! You were supposed to be looking out for him."

"I'm sorry." Dragon said finally turning away from his father. He meant it. That had been wrong of him.

"What were you thinking?" Garp asked his voice so soft it could have been a whisper.

"I was thinking it would be good for him." Dragon said bitterly. "I thought it might bring us closer. That it would help him."

"You thought you could push him to becoming the head hunter to take over for you." Garp spit out. "He was just a little kid. You may as well shot him yourself. That was all but murder."

"No!" Dragon's eyes were suddenly alight. "Luffy was a protégée as a hunter. He could do it, I knew he could have. He took down a full sized wolf in training all by himself. I knew he would be scared but I also knew he would pull through like he always does."

"But you were wrong." Garp spat. "He failed the exam and the wolves got him."

Silence fell across the kitchen as Dragon regarded him carefully. "Why now? Why are you suddenly asking me about this after so many years?"

Now it was Garp's turn to step away. He was torn. On one hand this was Luffy's father. He had no doubt Dragon felt real remorse for forcing Luffy to take the exam at such a young age. On the other hand Dragon had nearly killed his own son. And Luffy seemed terrified of them all. Whatever trust Luffy still had in Garp had to be treated delicately. Garp turned his head away.

"No reason." He said, "It had just been bothering me for a while."

"Dad," The seriousness in his sons voice made Garp freeze.

"It's Luffy." Dragons tone was calm, measured. Garp was sure he was looking for a reaction, for anything that would give the old man away. Garp made sure to keep his face neutral as he turned to face his son.

"He's alive."

"How do you know that?" He asked quietly. "No one should have been able to survive loosing that much blood. We found his clothes…I mean it's a nice thought but."

"NO!" Dragon cut his father off sharply. "He's alive I know it. I saw the security footage from one of the outposts. It was Luffy, there was no doubt about it." Dragon trailed off as he regarded his father thoughtfully."

"But you knew that didn't you."

When Garp didn't say anything Dragon continued. "How?"

When Garp still didn't talk his son sighed deeply. "Why wouldn't you tell me?"

Only now did Garp open his mouth, regretfully. "Because he is scared." So very scared. And Garp didn't know of what.

Dragon's eyes widened. "You talked to him?"

"Only for a moment. He got away before he could tell me anything."

"Why would he run from us?"

Garp glared at his son, "Well he wasn't too happy about you leaving him to die when he was seven." His voice rose to a thundering pitch. "He thought I knew about it and let it happen. NOW WHY WOULD HE THINK SOMETHING LIKE THAT?"

Dragon snapped towards him, anger in his eyes. "IT WAS A MISTAKE! Is that what you want me to say? I messed up, I know I did. After Makino I was messed up. But I have a chance to make it right again. And I'm not going to let it go."

Garp ran his hand over his face again, taking in a weary breath. "It looked to me like Luffy wants nothing to do with us. Don't you think it's a little odd? He's been alive all this time and never once tried to contact us?"

"Ace!" Dragon growled as he hit the counter with his fist. "I thought that mongrel was dead but I was wrong about both of them. He has Luffy."

Garp remembered the pictures of Luffy and Ace sleeping, Luffy tucked securely in Ace's arms. He wasn't sure what to make of that. He wasn't sure about anything lately. He thought he knew his son. But apparently not. He thought he knew his grandson but no. Not anymore at least.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that gone damn dog stole my son. He poisoned him against me."

That would explains Luffy's fear, his loyalty and how he knew about the raid. But if that was true why did he try so hard to warn them? It felt like a puzzle, only each piece was from a completely different picture.

True he didn't know very much about Rodgers son. He would be lying if he said the thought of Ace being in arms reach of his defenseless grandson didn't make his skin crawl. But Luffy was still here wasn't he. Alive and kicking.

"You don't know that this is Ace's doing?"

Dragon laughed, a dark sound. "Of course I do. That boy swore to destroy me. He won't rest until he's taken everything from me."

Garp frowned unsure of what to say. He knew that Ace must hate Dragon for what he had done to his family, to him. The thought that Ace was out for revenge wasn't too farfetched. But if that were true why did he wait all these years. Why hadn't he done a single thing to them yet? Things just didn't seem to add up.

He didn't know what to do, how to act. He wanted to find Luffy force him to explain himself. But not at the cost of betraying his grandson. That would destroy any of the remaining relationship the two had. For one of the first times in his life he didn't know what to do.

 **XXXXX**

Far away deep within the woods Sabo sat at the kitchen table watching sunlight slowly creep through the trees. Unsurprisingly he hadn't gotten very much sleep last night. Not when his two would be murder victims were just a few feet away. He looked up at a small shuffling.

"Your up." Sabo said sounding almost disappointed.

Luffy nodded as he sunk into a chair.

"Are you feeling okay?" Sabo asked after a few moments of awkward silence.

Apparently immune to it Luffy nodded. "How's Ace?"

"How does he look?" Sabo asked tilting his head curiously. Last he checked the teen had been alright. His breathing was strong and his color was coming back but he didn't so much as stir when Sabo tried poking him.

"Tired," Luffy told him.

"Yea, we should let him sleep." As much as Ace liked to believe it he was not indestructible. Sabo hated how Ace always used himself as cannon fodder, the very same way he use to when they were little kids. Even after all these years he was just as reckless and self-sacrificing as the day Sabo had met him. Even though they had been best friends and brothers for most of Sabo's life sometimes he did not understand him.

Sabo was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't see Luffy approaching until he felt a poke in the cheek. Sabo almost jumped at the contact as he pushed the finger away making Luffy frown.

"Are you okay?"

"I should be asking you that?"

Luffy nodded as he sat in the chair besides Sabo, resting his back against the teens bent knees.

"Are you mad at me?"

Luffy shook his head looking down at his bare feet.

"Are you sure?"

"Sabo," Luffy argued leaning back further into him. "Are you still crazy?"

"No more than usual."

"Then I'm not mad."

Sabo sighed as he too leaned back. He was glad that Luffy wasn't angry, although when he really thought about it he wasn't that surprised. Ace had been right afterall.

Sabo moved to relax but a flash of his little brothers face, streaked with tears and betrayal right before he brought the knife down came into his mind and made him jerk away from Luffy.

"What's wrong?"

"You should be," Sabo told him resting his chin on his knees.

"You don't get to tell me what to feel," Luffy reminded him as he scooched his chair closer so he could once again lean against the blond.

"I can tell you whatever I want." Sabo said relaxing against the contact. "You just don't have to listen to me."

"And I never listen."

"Your almost as bad as Ace," he agreed.

"Can I ask you something?" Luffy asked after a pause.

"No."

"Sabo!" Luffy whined the same way he used to when they were kids.

"Fine but can you steer away from the questions of the universe, at least for today." He didn't know about Luffy but he had his fill of tough conversations for a year, at the very least untile the sun came up."

As always Luffy ignored him. "Did you mean what you said?"

Sabo let out a low sigh, he did not want to talk about this without coffee. "Which part?" He asked weakly.

"All of it."

"No…maybe…I don't really know can you be more specific? I said a lot of things."

"About Ace dying?"

Crap. Sabo ran his hands over his knees nervously. Why the hell was he the one telling Luffy this? It wasn't even his secret.

"Yea. Sorry we didn't tell you. I think Ace just didn't want you to worry about it."

"Oh."

"What else did talkative me tell you?" He might as well get this over with now. Lucky for them Luffy wasn't very dramatic nor emotional. At least not by normal human standards.

"You said I was… wrong or something."

"So I did," Sabo recalled. His exacts words were 'really messed up' but he didn't see the need to correct him.

Luffy turned to look at him, his large eyes impossibly larger with worry. "Am I wrong or weird or broken?"

Sabo cut him off before he could continue. "Maybe a little." He almost laughed at Luffy's face. The epitome of a kicked puppy. "But don't worry about it." He promised quickly. "Everyone is a little messed up. If I was super healthy I wouldn't have tried to kill you and if Ace was normal he wouldn't have a death wish."

Luffy nodded slowly. "Alright," He agreed after a moment.

"You said one other thing."

Sabo tensed at that, they were headed into dangerous territory. He silently cursed his soulless self for making so much trouble for him.

"And what would that be?"

Luffy met his eyes evenly for a second before turning back to stare out the window.

It's nothing," He said with a sigh. "You were just lying."

"Probably." Sabo agreed as he turned to the window as well.

 **XXX**

Ace was dreaming, he knew it was true. For one thing he was a toddler again and for another he was in his old house. His mother stood over the stove humming strawberry fields forever as she worked. At least it was a good dream.

His dad use to tease his mom about her cooking but Ace thought all food was great. He kicked his legs against the table as Rouge put a bowl of stew down in front of him kissing his head as she did.

"Did you get up to anything interesting today Big Bad?"

Images of Sabo standing over Luffy with a knife flashed through his head but he pushed them aside. His mother didn't want to hear about something as violent as that. Instead he told her about the squirrel he had chased that day. He had been after the dumb thing for months but he couldn't catch it. He thought the squirrel was mocking him from its tree. Telling him he was a bad hunter.

Rogue didn't understand the need to prove himself to the neighboring squirrels. But she laughed anyway telling him he as a goof.

"Why do you have to kill it?" She asked as she stood up. Ace followed her curious about where she was going.

"Because it's a squirrel, and I'm a wolf. It's what we do." Ace told her as she unlocked the door stepping out into the yard. Even though they had just finished lunch it was late at night. He could tell as much from the darkened sky. Rather than the sloping hills fringed by trees they were back in the forest.

"Who says just because you are born something you have to act how everyone else expects you to."

Ace shrugged, he didn't really know. "When everyone thinks you are a certain way it doesn't really matter if you're like that or not. It's how things work."

Rogue looked up at the stars, admiring them. "Why did they kill me then Big Bad? If what you say is true I'm a human. Humans aren't supposed to kill other humans."

Ace knew the answer to this question easily.

"Because you're not a human to them anymore. You're a traitor. And Hunters kill everything that isn't human."

"If I'm a traitor then what does that make you?"

"A monster."

His mother turned her eyes to him sharply. "Ace don't talk like that, you'll make your mother sad."

"It's true mom. Everyone knows it."

"Ace me and your father did not make a monster. We made a perfect baby. A kind baby. We made you."

Ace shook his head as the stars above seemed to shift and spin like a kaleidoscope. Maybe at first he had been good and innocent but he had lost that battle a long time ago. There was nothing innocent about him anymore. A monster was what he had to become to survive. He had chosen to live and that meant shouldering all the hatred and self-loathing. Rather than fight it he decided to go along with it. Why not become a monster and make those who took everything from him feel the same pain he did.

"That's stupid." A familiar voice called out. He looked up to see Sabo sitting in a tree reading one of his books. His brother was ten years old again and still sporting the colorful bruises he had when Ace met him.

He snapped the book shut and jumped down. "If that's true why are you and me friends? We shouldn't be, we should hate each other." Sabo tilted his head. "Do you hate me Ace?"

Ace shook his head wordlessly.

"Why don't we hate each other? When every other one of our species does. Why are we different?"

Ace didn't have an answer for that one either.

"If that's true why didn't you just kill me?" Ace tuned around to see Luffy standing behind him, back to his seven year old self. You hate my dad, you wanted to kill me right? So what stopped you? Why was I any different?"

Ace had often asked himself why he hadn't followed through with his intention to kill Luffy.

"It's easy," Luffy promised Ace as he fished the knife from his boot handing it to Ace. "Right through the heart he reminded him. You've done it before right?"

Ace looked at the knife in his hands and then back to Luffy as the little kid leaned over to wrap his arms around Ace. He rested his chin on Ace's shoulder with a weary sigh. "Go ahead." Luffy told him tightening his grip. "They're going to end up killing me anyways. I would rather die here then have to go back to them."

Sabo rolled his eyes. "Honestly," He said as he grabbed the knife from Ace's loose grip pulling Luffy away from him.

"It's easy Ace." He told him, only they weren't little kids anymore. They were the teenagers from last night. Ace stood there unable to move as Sabo brought the blade down, plunging it into Luffy heart.

Ace woke up screaming.

It took a long moment for his fuzzy mind to separate dreams from reality and for a horrible second he could still taste the soup his mother had made for him, still feel the knife in his hands and still hear the sounds of Luffy screaming.

Then the second was over and his sluggish thoughts recognized the figure on the edge of the bed as his distinctly not dead little brother.

Luffy was asking him something but he ignored it to instead pull him into a tight hug.

Luffy stilled but when Ace didn't let go he began to wiggle around trying to ask Ace what was wrong. Ace ignored him as he resting his cheek on the soft hair, content to go back to sleep despite Luffy struggling in his arms. He shifted so Luffys mouth was muffled by his shoulder. Ace knew that if he let him call Sabo the blonde would make him let go. He told Ace that just because he was stronger then the kid that didn't mean he was allowed to force him to do things, like be his teddy bear for example. Ace disagreed, that was exactly what that meant.

He was far too tired to get up but he was worried about having another nightmare. Couldn't he just have one nice dream before his diseased psyche ruined it? Or whatever cocktail of pain pills he was currently on. He hated medication, it always gave him the oddest dreams. Whne he finally did drift off again, Luffy wiggling in his arms irritatingly, only nightmares awaited him.

 **XXX**

"Looks like we missed all the action boys." A young man said as he surveyed the damage around the town. He hadn't been back for years. It was only the recent attack on the town that had forced him to break his self-imposed exile and return.

"I can't believe those things had the stones to do a full out assault on the town." A curly haired man said.

The man nodded silently as he put a hand on the gravestone patting it reassuringly. "Yea boys, it looks like a war is brewing and this town seems to be smack in the middle of it."

"So what's the plan boss?"

The man bent down to place roses on both of the tombstones in front of him. There were older flowers, just starting to wither besides his own. He wondered who had been responsible for those.

"Same old," He told his crew with a smirk as he straightened. Kill the monsters rescue the humans and maybe get lucky with some damsels along the way."

The black haired man besides him took a long drag from his pipe before putting it out, slinging his gun over his shoulder. "Sounds good to me."

"Don't worry anchor." The scarred man promised gently as he gave the tombstone one last look before turning away. "We will get the bastards that did this to you." Every last one of them.

 **XXX**

 **Thank you to everyone who's still with my weird and a little twisted story. I'm so glad people seem to like it. Please leave a review and tell me what you think. It would make my day and I will give you a baby werewolf of your own to cuddle and love** **either way hang in there for the rest of the semester. Summers almost here and we are so close to freedom!**

 *****If you thought the dream sequence was a little corny it was because that's the only way I know how to foreshadow. This chapter was just dealing with the fallout from chapter 20 and next chapter is going to be a big piece out of Ace's past. Then the rest of the straw hats reunite as they have been a little lacking lately. And Dragon starts to look for his lost son killing everything along the way. And Shanks is back now.**

 *****Fun fact, if you were ever curious of what your stripper name would be my old boss told me that it's the name of your first pet + the first street you lived on**

 **FairyAlchemist400: You might have to force feed him chill pills. I don't think he is going to take this lying down. I'm so glad you liked soulless Sabo. He creeped me out too and I didn't realize how dark the chapter had gotten until I reread it and thought 'oops'. Yes, I think Sabo had enough to worry about before and now he has the added stress of this. Thank you so much for your kind review!**

 **Guest: Thank you for not being mad at Sabo. He had a rough day.**

 **Rin27: That is so nice! I'm so happy you like the story. I worry sometimes that it's too abstract. Here is Dragons reaction ad he is note pleased. Thank you for the review! Hopefully this chapter was good as well!**

 **lostdog200: Yes of course! I'm glad you like it**

 **SEllen23: I'm really happy you liked the Ace/Sabo bromance. I think they are really great together. Sorry the chapter turned a little dark and Soulless Sabo was so mean. Thank you for the review** **I hope you like this one as well.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Many of you have expressed eagerness to learn about the ASL past, especially Luffy's. Here is Luffy's past part 2. Like last time I couldn't fit all of them in a single chapter so chapter 23 and 24 will be all about Ace and Sabo and unlike Luffy their life isn't all cupcakes and rainbows.**

 ****For the record I don't think Dragon is evil. He is very negligent and it's clear he never wanted kids. He also doesn't understand how they work. It doesn't help that Luffy doesn't seem to like him either. But deep down he loves his son…I think? But both of them would be lost without Makino.**

 **XXX**

Luffy was growing a little older. He was still small and scrawny for his age but no longer a babbling infant. Now at nearly four years old he had graduated to a babbling toddler. A cute one at that. He was doted on by both Makino's mother and Garp. He was also starting to develop opinions about many things. For instance he loved his mother dearly and took to following her around like a baby duck. He loved his grandmother as well and always looked forwards to her frequent visits. It helped that she always brought sweets for him. Although he was still on the fence about Garp. The big mans booming laugh startled him and he picked up Luffy like he was a sack of potatoes. Still the man meant well and he told Luffy many funny stories.

Who Luffy did not like was an unsmiling man named Dragon. His mom kept trying to get him to call this man 'daddy' but he stubbornly refused. It seemed neither Luffy nor Dragon wanted that. His mother told him when he was a baby he would always cry when Dragon held him. Whatever rift he had formed as an infant had carried over and Luffy still did not like the man. Maybe it was because he had a scary face or that he never smiled. For his part Dragon did not know how to act around children and preferred to ignore Luffy which was fine with him. This however did not sit well with Makino.

Thus he found himself sitting on the hood of the car as his mom finished putting her bag into the trunk.

"Can't your mother just ask a neighbor to look after her cat?" Dragon argued his arms crossed over is chest. His tone sounded almost whiney. "It's only two days for goodness sake."

"No dear I told you Mittens is getting up there in years and my mother would never forgive me if somehow happened to him. Besides you two need some quality male bonding." She gestured to both of them as Luffy and Dragon shared a look. Luffy didn't like this idea. He had never been away from his mom for a whole two days before. What if he got lonely at night?

"Why can't I come! He asked as his mom gave him a tight hug.

"I told you Red, you and your dad are going to have some fun without me." She kissed his forehead before picking him up.

"Isn't that right dear?" She handed Luffy over to Dragon who reluctantly held him.

Luffy whined as Makino kissed them both, before getting into the car.

"Have a good weekend boys." She told them and Luffy felt frustration bubble up inside of him as he watched her begin to drive away. He looked up at Dragon with the same disinterested look his supposed father looked down at him with. His grandfather had once gotten a little too drunk during his stories and told Luffy he had been a bit of an accident. One that Dragon had never been completely on board with.

"I guess… do you want dinner or."

At the mention of food Luffy nodded enthusiastically. Dragon put him down as he trotted after the man back into their little house.

"When's mom coming back?" Luffy asked as he clambered onto the counter. Watching Dragon fumble around to reheat the food Makino had left for them.

"Sunday."

"Oh," Luffy flopped onto his back as an awkward silence filled the kitchen.

"Can we go visit grandma?"

"She's out of town." Dragon reminded him gruffly.

"Can we go visit mom?"

"She literally just left!" Dragon slammed the oven door harder then he meant too. He was beginning to see why Makino had left the two of them alone. Maybe they did need some bonding time.

"Is Gramps coming by this weekend?"

Call it his imagination but it was getting hard to ignore the fact that Luffy was fond of literally everyone except him.

"It's just the two of us for now alright Luffy!"

Luffy made a face into his knees.

"Alright!" Dragon repeated.

The little boy nodded, "Okay."

They ate dinner in awkward silence. Dragon had no idea how to talk to kids and Luffy seemed content just to inhale the food without saying anything himself. When they finished Dragon went upstairs to his office leaving Luffy to his own devices.

 **XXX**

While Dragon worked Luffy busied himself on the floor of the living room. He was laying on his stomach coloring. The living room was kind of creepy and he didn't like being here alone but he could hear Dragon typing upstairs so he knew he wasn't totally alone. He was starting to miss his mom. The first drawing was of her. The next one he did of his dad who had ended up feeding him even if he looked frumpy about it. Luffy was halfway done when the door swung open suddenly.

He sat up excitedly expecting his mom. But instead there was a scary looking man who seemed equally surprised to see him. Luffy stood up reluctantly as a large grin took over the man's face.

"Who might you be tyke?"

Luffy didn't respond but rather pressed himself against the couch. Usually he loved meeting new people. But something about this stranger made him afraid. His mom told him he had good instincts, whatever that meant.

"Is Dragon here?" The man asked taking a step closer. Luffy nodded hoping he would go away. He thought about running upstairs to Dragons office but he decided against it. Dragon wouldn't like that.

"I got some papers for your dad." The man explained as he took a step closer shutting the door softly behind him. "Can I see what your drawing?"

Luffy shook his head pushing his drawings away with his feet.

The man gave him a look. "Don't be a brat about it." He walked closer to Luffy as he reached down to pick him up.

Luffy let out a terrified squeak as he was lifted into the air. The man sat down on the couch putting Luffy on his lap. He tried to squirm away but the man's grip got tighter as he felt the huge hands squeeze his ribcage like one of the snakes he watched on TV last night. He smelled bad too, like the stuff Dragon occasionally drank, the same stuff Makino put on Luffy's scrapes when he hurt himself.

When Luffy stilled the man patted his hair, "That's it, be a good boy and don't fuss."

"I used to have a kid like you," The man told him still petting his hair. "But that whore took him with her.

Luffy let out another squeak when those hands tightened again in anger as the man continued to ramble. He sounded crazy. Luffy wanted his mom.

 **XXX**

Dragon heard the soft thumps as Luffy sped up the stairs and strait into his office. Somewhere he had never been before.

Dragon opened his mouth to remind the kid not to run in the house but before he could ask Luffy ran across the floor and strait into Dragons lap. He wrapped his arms around the man's neck hiding his face in his shoulder. Dragon could feel the beat of Luffy's frantic heart as well as feel the little boy tremble.

"Luffy whats wrong?"

He heard a much louder thump on the stairs and instantly tensed. A few seconds later one of his subordinates came through the door, offering Dragon a polite smile.

"Sorry sir," The man said looking sympathetically at the little boy in dragons arms. "Garp sent me over with those forms. He said he needed them signed right away. I didn't mean to scare the little tyke."

"What happened?" Dragon asked as Luffy had yet to look up from his lap. He was however still shivering.

"Oh nothing, I just surprised the little guy when I came bursting in. Skiddish one that kid."

The man walked deeper into the office to put the papers on his desk. He knelt down by Luffy who refused to move.

"Cute kid." He mused as Dragon flipped through the papers. "He yours?"

"Yes," Dragon said distractedly.

"Never knew you had kids sir." He looked around casually. "I don't suppose that kind wife of yours is around today is she?"

Dragon looked up for a second before shaking his head. "No."

He saw no need to get personal with the other hunters. He was known for keeping his personal life, or lack of, out of the field. Besides Makino didn't like most of the hunters he worked with. She had called them brutish thugs. After Luffy was born she had forbid them from the house saying she didn't want them around their child. Dragon had thought that was a little harsh, after all they were heroes who fought for the town. Sure they were a little rough around the edges but anyone who killed things for a living was bound to be.

He couldn't look through these papers with this kid clinging to him. For goodness sake Luffy was almost four. He had to learn independence already. Dragon pulled Luffy away from his chest putting the shaking kid down on the floor.

He could see tears welling in the little kid's eyes as he looked at the hulking man in front of him. One tiny hand latched onto Dragons pant leg.

Looking at his face now Dragon could see a bright red patch on the boy's cheek and neck.

"What happened?" Dragon asked as Luffy tried to hide behind him. This was not setting a good example for his men. What would they think if their leader let his own son cower behind him? He grabbed Luffy's arm and yanked him forwards harder then he meant to.

"Little one must have run into a wall or something." The man said as he leaned forward to inspect the soon to be bruises. Luffy twisted like a cat to get away. Dragon had no idea why the usually friendly kid was acting like this.

"Luffy if you're going to cause trouble go somewhere while I work."

Needing no further encouragement Luffy took off out of the room the second he was released.

"Sorry about that Bluejam." He said tiredly as he finished signing the papers.

"Not at all boss, kids will be kids." He bid Dragon goodnight before he left. It wasn't until much later that night while Dragon was finishing up his papers that he realized that was the first time Luffy had ever run to him. That was also the first time he had ever hugged his father without Makino telling him too. Some nagging voice at the back of his mind also told him that it was probably the last.

Speaking of Luffy? Dragon got up suddenly very alert. Where was that kid? Did most toddlers put themselves to bed? He was starting to think they didn't. Still he checked their bedroom just to be safe. No Luffy. It was totally clean.

There were only two rooms in their tiny house. It was all they could afford at the time. Especially considering being such young parents. The plan was to turn Dragons office into Luffy's bedroom when he got a little older. But for now Luffy slept between them in their big queen bed in the bedroom.

"Luffy bedtime." Dragon called out as he made his way downstairs. He caught sight at the clock in the kitchen and winced. That wasn't good. He really wasn't cut out for this parent thing.

"Luffy!" He noticed the spread of paper and crayons Luffy had been playing with before Bluejam had come in. Dragon picked up the top sheet curiously. Luffy was terrible at art even by three year old standards. Still Makino would always kiss his forehead when he showed her and put it on the fridge which was now quite covered in the stuff. There were many pictures of her. Many more of his grandmother and even the occasional one of Garp or the neighbor's dogs. Up until this point there had been a sole picture with dragon in it. Makino had told him to let Luffy into his office while he worked and the little kid had drawn a picture of him hunched over his desk looking rather annoyed. Needless to say it was not flattering.

But here in his hands there was a second picture of Dragon. At least he thought it was supposed to be him. For one thing he was frowning even as he ate tonight's dinner. Still tiny stick figure Luffy had been smiling in the drawing. To date that was the kindest crayon depiction Dragon had gotten. Or at least it would have been if Luffy had finished it. He must have gotten interrupted part way through drawing it and gotten spooked off.

Dragon put the drawing down with a sigh as he continued looking for the frightened child. After about an hour or so he was growing concerned. He had almost called his wife but decided against it. So instead he kept looking for Luffy on his own. He checked the bedroom, the closet, behind every couch in the living room and searched each inch of the basement. He was in the process of checking the kitchen cabinets when he heard a tiny snore.

"Luffy?" He called out curiously.

He made his way to the kitchen table checking underneath the table cloth for what felt like the hundredth time. Still no kid. But there was a definite nose. Dragon pulled out the chairs feeling extreme relief when he recognized the little bundle on one of them.

Little Luffy had curled up on one of the seats and had fallen sleep, safely curtained by the table cloth.

"Swear to god kid." Dragon sighed as he bent down to scoop Luffy up carrying him to bed.

Whatever bond they managed to form had clearly shattered the next morning as Dragon got an emergency call from work and had to rush off to deal with it. He had returned a few hours later to find the toddler sitting at the door waiting for someone to come home. A very noticeable bruise had bloomed across his cheek and another on his neck and arm. In Dragons hast he had forgotten about Luffy who had struggled to find something to eat for breakfast. The kitchen was a mess. There weren't many things he could reach so he had been eating some dry oats and olives from the jar.

When Luffy saw that it was him rather than Makino he huffed in anger and made his way back upstairs. Needless to say Dragon considered this weekend terrible. If Luffy didn't dislike him before he certainly did now. He didn't talk to Dragon for the rest of the weekend.

When Makino had returned late on Sunday night Luffy had ran to her. When she picked him up he buried his face in her neck content to stay there.

"What happened? She mused feeling his bruises gingerly.

"Apparently he ran into a wall." Dragon said as he leaned forward to peck his wife on the cheek.

Makino patted Luffy's head comfortingly, "You must be more careful dear."

When Luffy didn't respond Makino looked at Dragon. "How was your weekend?"

The look he sent her told her enough.

"It couldn't have been that bad," She argued.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" He looked at Luffy and Makino nodded, understanding. She tried to put Luffy down but he tightened his grip and gave a whine.

"Sweetie Mommy has to talk to Daddy for a moment." She told him as she undid his arms from around her and set him down on the couch. He held his arms up to be picked up again as tears began to pool in his eyes.

Makino frowned as she leaned in to kiss his forehead. "Luffy's acting a little odd."

Dragon shrugged, he hadn't noticed. "He probably just missed you."

"Did he have his nap for today?"

"Uhh?" He didn't realize kids had naps.

Makino tssked at him as she once again picked up Luffy as tears began to fall down his cheeks. Dragon waited as she put him to bed before coming back downstairs so they could talk.

"He's soft." Dragon told her as she sat down beside him.

"He's three." She shot back not ready to argue this issue. "You sound like your father."

"He's almost four."

Makino sighed as she rested her hand on her husband's leg. "You are a very talented man honey. However you don't know much about children." He couldn't argue with her there.

"He hates me."

She moved her hand from his leg, reaching across to hold his own. "No he doesn't. He's just inherited your stubbornness. I'm sure you two will grow to appreciate each other when he gets older."

There was a long pause before Makino began again. "Dear could there have been any other way Luffy got those bruises?"

Dragon furrowed his brow. "Why?"

"Well it's just I don't think there from a wall. When I put him to bed I noticed one on his stomach and another on his back. Did anything happen or…"

"I was home all weekend." Or most of it but Makino didn't need to know that. "He was probably just being reckless again.

She nodded reluctantly still not looking convinced. If something serious had happened Luffy would have told them. Dragon was sure it was fine.

"Makino, I need to tell you something."

She nodded picking up on his serious tone.

"We might be in danger."

"From who?"

"Ace."

Makino gave him a strange look. "Ace? As in Rodgers child?"

He nodded. "Yesterday I there was an emergency at work. One of my hunters was in the woods and Ace attacked him, practically mauled him. He is in the hospital recovering right now."

Makino covered her mouth with her hand. "That's horrible." She whispered.

Dragon nodded. "It sounded like he was looking for me. I think he's out for revenge and…"

"Stop!" Makino said cutting him off. "Doesn't it bother you that a little boy is running around hurt and confused in the woods? And he blames you."

"He's not a child he is a monster."

"He is a CHILD!" She snapped, something that Dragon had only heard her do a couple of times. "I knew his mother and I know that woman wouldn't have raised a monster. And if a child wants revenge against you then we have done something wrong."

Dragon scowled at her. The night he killed Rodger marked the biggest fight they had ever had. Makino hadn't talked to him for a week. Rodger had been Dragons friend. He had trusted him and in the end it turned out he was a monster. Even worse he was the monsters leader.

Angry as she was Makino trusted her husband when he told her that he did what he had to do. Although she did not approve of his decision she had seen the scares her husband had gotten from that fight and known that it was him or Dragon. She knew that sometimes in life everyone had to make decisions they didn't like. She was comforted by the fact that Ace and Rouge were together. She had no doubt they would never forgive the town but Rouge was an amazing woman. Makino knew that on some level Rouge understood why Dragon had done what he had done. The same way that Makino understood why Rodger had betrayed them. But she hated to hear that Ace was out for revenge against them.

"Just listen," He told her. "I saw the wounds. Ace is dangerous. And he is looking for us. I know you don't want to believe it but it is true. What if he stumbled upon Luffy playing in the yard alone?"

Makino gasped, "He wouldn't."

"I know you like to see the best in people but this is our son. Do you really want to risk it?"

"What are you saying we do then?" Makino asked quietly.

"Find Ace."

"Absolutely not! You will not hurt that boy anymore then you already have."

"Then we train Luffy to defend himself."

"He's three!"

Dragon sighed. He hadn't expected his wife to go along with either plans.

"What do we do then?"

"We just have to be more careful. I will keep an eye on Luffy and my big strong husband can look after me just fine."

Dragon gave her a small smile. Lord knows he would try his hardest. He doubted there was another woman like Makino in all of the world.

They heard a creak on the stairs and Makino looked at him with a grin. "It looks like there is a little mouse."

"Come out Luffy," Dragon said as the tiny toddler slunk down from the stairs running across the floor and to his mother.

"You're supposed to be asleep Red." Makino told him as she leaned down to pick him up.

"He must have really missed his mom," Dragon mused rather taken aback. He often left for weeks at a time and half the time Luffy didn't even notice. Yet for the majority of the two days Luffy had sat in front of the door waiting for his mom to come back.

Makino hugged Luffy , kissing his temple as she leaned against Dragon. "What am I going to do with you two?" She mused to herself. When Luffy fell asleep a few minutes alter, no longer able to keep his eyes open Makino moved him to a surprised Dragons lap so she could go unpack.

As his wife left the room Dragon looked down at his sleeping son. He sighed as he saw the dark bruise blossoming across his cheek. He wasn't sure if he was cut out to be a father after all.

 **XXX**

 **Thank you guys for sticking with me. I love that people are reading this story even after two years. If all goes according to plan this fic is halfway done and over 100K which is the longest story I've ever written by far. I hope you lovely readers still enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. Like I said before the next two chapters will be Ace or Sabo's backstories, tell me if you care which one I write first.**

 **The flashbacks are getting so much harder to write** **I know I came up with this and it might just be me being a dork but damn this stuff is making me tear up. Luffy seems like he's happy but he is on the verge of losing his mom and that's when everything goes to hell for him. Anyway tell me if you are sad for the little cuties, don't care either way, or wish I would stop trying to get you to talk to me by asking campy questions.**

 **Next two chapters will be up soon. Best wishes as we go into this very dark era of final exams.**

Rin27: Ah thank you for the review No ASL moments for a little while sadly. Alas, only the teenagers and Garp and Dragon know about Luffy. Shank's is still very angry at the loss of his anchor. I shall try to update again soon.

lostdog200: Sorry to introduce shanks and then make you wait three chapters for him to be in it again. Hopefully baby Luffy makes up for it. Also I am very glad you liked Garp and Dragons fight, high praise indeed. Thank you a million for all of your wonderful reviews.

CF8WRK4U: Aw, thank you!

Angelwings: I am sorry again for giving you a Shanks then putting him back in the corner for three chapters. After this he will be back to kick some ass. Thank you for the review.

SEllen23: I'm really glad everyone is so excited about shanks. When he reappears I will do my best to make him awesome. Untile then hopefully baby ASL is a good substitute.

FairyAlchemist400: Dragon will As you can see in this chapter he is already after him. And Makino is ready to slap Dragon because she is a precious cinnamon bun who can do no wrong. Slap away, he rather deserves it. Ace has a really rough time next chapter. Hopefully it will explain why he was so angry in this one. I'm glad you liked the nightmare sequence That was awesome to hear. Ace has a lot of problems and most of them are Dragons fault.

I think shanks might have to do the force feeding for both Garp and Dragon. And both sleep and a vacation is a great idea for Sabo. He likes to try and be responsible, the little dear.

Thank you for the review Hopefully this chapter was good was well!


	23. Chapter 23

**I know I promised this chapter sooner but I spent the last month and a half backpacking around Europe. I meant to put it out before I left but I got my grades back and instead of writing I spent the time laying on the carpet pretending I was never born. Anywho I am sorry for that and this chapter in general.**

 **Prepare for sadness**

 **XXX**

Ace was mature for his age. At least that's his mom told him. Something about being part wolf sped up his development so he acted older than the not-quite-four year old that he really was. As such he got into all sorts of mischief and was often in trouble with his parents, especially Rouge as Rodger was more amused by his antics than anything else.

Today, like so many before it, had Ace sitting at the top of his favorite tree staring intently at the town. He could just about make out the rooftops way across the meadow. If he glanced behind him he could see the thick tangle of trees that was the woods. Ace was forbidden from both areas. His father sometimes took him into the woods so they could hunt but recently he had been too busy. Mostly he was trapped in the outskirts, not allowed to go beyond either boundary set by his parents. It felt like he was stuck between two walls. It didn't bother him so much when he was younger but the older he got the more he longed for freedom.

The meadow that their tiny cottage was situated in was extensive. It wrapped a good few miles around the town serving as the buffer between the human settlement and the woods. But by now Ace had explored every inch or the area more times than he could count.

His parents told him to be patient. But they didn't understand. They were allowed to go into town whenever they wanted. Rodger was there every day for his job.

His dad was a wolf. More than that he was the King of Wolves. He used to tell Ace stories of how he managed to rally the different wolf clans together. He had never told Ace exactly how he managed it aside from a few short bedtime stories over the years. It sounded like his dad used to be a badass wolf warrior. But the only friend he still talked to from that life was his best friend Rayleigh who would occasionally come over for dinner.

It was Rayleigh who finally told Ace the truth about why his father quite that life. It was around the time he had met Rouge and Ace was born that Rodger decided everything he had done wasn't enough. It was only half the battle. He wanted to create a world where his odd mixed race family could be free and accepted. And to do that he needed to work on the humans. So when Ace was just a week old he had cut many of his ties to the wolves. Asking them to be patient as he tried to fix the species feud. Wanting to understand both sides of the war the grand King of Wolves had taken up a small part time job working for the town's defense troops to protect the citizens from the creatures in the woods while he posed as a normal human being. There he had seen firsthand the devastated families who had lost a loved one to the 'monsters'. He worked closely with the hunters and the military working his way up the ladder step by step.

Ace had told him time and time again that he was a foolish optimist and it was ever going to work.

Rodger had only laughed, "You never know if you don't try. You will see Big Bad. I'm going to create a better world. One you can grow up in as yourself. Be patient. I just need a bit more time."

He had been saying that for almost four years. He was trying to gain the humans trust enough so when he eventually came out as a wolf they would accept him. As much as Ace liked to play the deadpan pessimist he was excited to see this world his father promised him. So he had tried his best to be a good boy for his parents. He stayed in the outskirts, didn't interact with humans or the creatures in the woods. No matter how mind numbingly boring it was.

"Ace come down from there," Rouge called. Her long blond hair tied up into a messy bun on her head and her arms full of pails of strawberries.

One look at the fruit was all the motivation Ace needed to come down. Sliding nimbly along the trunk he landed besides his mother, eyes fixed on food. But she held it away from him.

"Help me with dinner first and then we can make a tart with them."

"That will ruin them," he told her as he took one of the buckets. Ace didn't like things that were too sweet.

"I'll put some aside for you," she said tussling his hair affectionately. Ace gave her one of his rare half smiles as they walked home together.

"When is dad going to be back?"

"He's working late tonight so dinners just going to be you and me."

"Again?" Lately it seemed like Rodger was always at work. Ace rarely saw him anymore. And while Ace didn't always see eye to eye with the man when the only social interaction he got was two people he noticed when one of them was missing.

"Things are bad right now Ace, for everyone. Your dad is trying his best to help. One day you will understand."

"I understand now," He said annoyed. "I can help."

"Not yet sweet heart, you're too young. Give it some more time."

"How much more time!" He asked his voice starting to raise. His entire life seemed to be a waiting game. A boring one at that. He wanted excitement. He wanted to see the town and meet people and even some kids his own age. He wanted to have adventures like his dad did at his age, fighting vampires and starting a pack. The most exciting part of his days trapped at home was his never ending fight with the stray barn cat that liked to wonder into his territory every now and again. Even the occasional trips into the woods with Rodger had stopped.

No longer feeling hungry Ace put the pail down storming off, despite Rouge calling after him. Little did Ae realize that he was about to get his wish. These boring peace filled days were coming to an end very soon. And when that happened no amount of wishing would bring them back.

 **XXX**

It was nearly a month later that it happened. A day that started off like any other. Rodger was pulling so much over time it was like he hardly lived here anymore. Tensions between the forest and the towns people was reaching a breaking point as three days ago an entire hunter party had been found mauled and left on the town border. Everyone was tense. Even Rouge was feeling it as Ace often caught her staring out the window. He suspected she missed Rodgers presence more than she was willing to admit to him.

"It's going to rain tonight." She told him looking out the kitchen window.

Ace was laying on the living room floor half sleeping. He twitched one of his ears cocking his head towards her. He could have told her that. He had been smelling rain all day.

"I'm going to run to town real quick before it starts." She told him grabbing her rain coat. "And before you ask no you can't come."

Ace growled to himself as he put his head back on the floor. He heard the door slam as his mom left and far in the distance he heard the sounds of approaching thunder.

He was just about to drift back to sleep when he heard a knock on the door. His head shot up as an unfamiliar scent reached his nose. Feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline Ace sat up quickly changing back to his human form more on instinct than anything else.

He stayed half crouched on the carpet, his mind a complete blank of what to do. Who in the world could be knocking on their door? It had never happened before. At least not when he was alone in the house. That was kind of the point of living way out here.

Maybe if he stayed here they would go away. That was probably what his parents wanted him to do. He looked down at himself realizing he was quite naked. He scrambled onto the couch where some fresh laundry Rouge had been folding lay half finished.

Ace dressed quickly and silently before hugging his knees to his chest, his ears listening to the person just beyond the door. It didn't sound like they were going away.

Finally after another few minutes the handle turned and Ace felt his blood freeze. Had his mother forgotten to lock the door? Did she ever lock the door? He didn't know. It hadn't been an issue until now.

He watched as the kitchen door swung open and an unfamiliar man stepped inside. He was tall with long black hair and tattoos across the right side of his face. His dark eyes scanned the room quickly noticing Ace frozen on the couch. He looked as surprised as Ace felt.

"Errr…hello."

Ace wasn't sure what he was supposed to do? He was completely caught off guard. He had never met another human besides his mom.

"You must be Ace, Rodgers son," He continued.

Ace nodded confused what was going on.

"I was just… I work with your dad," he said. "I need to pick something up for him."

Ace swallowed down a growl. He was lying Rodger would never allow anyone into the house. No without telling Rouge.

"I'll just go grab it. I'm sure it's around here somewhere." He was still lying. Admittedly he was really good at it. But Ace could hear his heart beat and it was very strange. Fast like he had just run here. But it didn't seem like it was slowing down. And he was tense. Far too tense.

"No," Ace said his voice surprising the both of them.

The man turned his dark eyes on him and Ace felt his shoulders rise defensively. He stood up squaring his shoulders, painfully aware of just how much taller the man was.

"Where is your mom Ace?"

"She's going to town," Ace told him wearily. "She will be back soon." He was lying and both of them knew it.

The man crossed the tiny kitchen to the living room. "Can I ask you some questions Ace?"

Ace crossed his arms giving the man a glare. Something was wrong here. He could feel it. When he didn't respond the man continued.

"Have you been to town before? I've never seen you around."

Ace remained silent unsure of what to say. He wanted him to leave and for his mom to come back.

"Do you have a pet?"

"What?"

"A cat… dog maybe?"

He bit his lip confused. Finally he shook his head. He realized his mistake too late. The man was eyeing the carpet, specifically his favorite spot on the edge of the carpet which was covered in fur.

"Our friend has a dog," he lied. "He visits us sometimes. Please leave now." He was quickly running out of patience and politeness had never been his strong suit.

"Was it the same dog that chewed up the furniture?"

Ace glanced between him and the bite marks on the couch and the faded claw marks.

"Leave," Ace said louder. There was a bit of a growl in his words.

The man nodded, "Alright." He agreed as he headed out, casting one last look at Ace. His face stony and impossible to read. The second he shut the door behind him Ace ran over and locked it.

When he was sure the man was gone and a far enough away Ace ran from their bedroom and out the back door. He didn't stop running until he hit the start of the trail that led into town. There he stood waiting anxiously for his mother to return.

When she finally emerged with her grocery bag he flung himself at her and the story came spilling out.

"Can you fix it?" Ace asked much like the small naive child he spent so much time convincing his parents he wasn't.

Rouge looked very white as she put the bag down instead taking Ace's hand.

"Come on sweetheart we should head back and wait for your father."

Ace tried to tell her she was forgetting the bag but she told him it would be alright if they left it. Something about the way she said it made fear creep into his chest.

Rouge took Ace home, never once letting go of his hand. When Ace asked how she knew dad was coming home early tonight she told him she just knew.

He stayed at the kitchen table with her as the storm drew closer and the sky got darker. When his stomached growled loudly she finally snapped out of it long enough to make him something to eat but none for herself or Rodger.

"Shouldn't we cover up the garden?" He asked his mom. She had been staring out the window for the last five minutes as he ate.

She looked over at him her brow furrowed. "It's okay sweetheart." Ace put his spoon down all too aware that she wasn't eating.

"Mom did I do something wrong?"

Rouge shook her head as she leaned forward to kiss his head. "No baby you were perfect. Finish up alright." Ace obeyed reluctantly. He moved to take the dishes to the sink but she stopped him. "It's okay you can leave them. Just come here." He slid off his chair and climbed onto his mother's lap.

"Mom what's wrong?"

She stroked his hair with a sigh. "It's not something kids should worry about." She grabbed his chin turning him to face her.

"You know we would never let anything bad happen to you Big Bad?" Ace nodded. "And you know me and your father love you so much."

Ace nodded mutely again feeling slightly embarrassed at the emotion. But the unsettling feeling in his stomach outweighed all of that.

"Is something bad going to happen?"

"Maybe," Rouge said. "But it's going to be okay. Now go upstairs alright. Your dads going to be back soon and Mommy needs to talk to him alone." She set him back down but he hesitated.

"Please Ace, go upstairs." The tone in her voice was enough to make Ace turn on his heels and obey. But he didn't go past the top step. Instead he waited out of sight for Rodger to return. Outside the rain pounded against the windows loudly.

Neither of them moved for hours until there was a familiar click of the front door opening a split second before the first bolt of thunder struck overhead.

"Honey…" Rouge started only to be cut off by Rodger.

"He knows, Dragon knows."

Ace heard his mother sigh, "I know. He came by today while I was gone. He talked to Ace."

Rodger sucked in a quick breath. "Good lord?"

"How did he find out?"

Rodger laughed humorlessly, "He's not the Head Hunter for nothing. It was foolish to think I could trick him forever… he didn't threaten Ace did he?"

"I don't think so."

There was a pause from downstairs and Ace leaned forward in anticipation.

"Ace our bedroom now!" Rodger snapped with unusual aggression.

Ace stood, stalling for a minute before he raced into his parent's room.

"Shut the door!" Rodger yelled as Ace did as he was told. He lay on the floor next to it using his hearing to try and pick up the conversation down stairs. Only bits of it floated up to him but he understood the gist of it.

His mom was asking if they should leave. But Rodger was determined to stay. "I have to," he told her. "This is what I've been working towards. If I run they will think I am guilty and hunt me like an animal instead of resolving this with words like a human. Dragon is my friend. More than that he is one of my best human friends. We have fought side by side for four years. Surely he will see reason."

Rouge quietly reminded him that he wasn't the best at keeping calm in these kinds of situations. He had a hot temper, especially when it came to his family and his race.

But in the end she had agreed. Telling him that when he did this she was going to be right by his side where she belonged.

They had come upstairs shortly after that, unsurprised to find Ace had been eavesdropping. Instead of getting in trouble like he expected Rodger just gave him a strong hug.

His parents weren't acting like themselves and it scared Ace. It was like they were replaced by different people who didn't get mad at him or take care of the house like they used to. Instead they just kept hugging him and looking at each other when they thought he wasn't looking.

"Dad what's happening?" Ace asked as his father picked him up and put him on his parent's big bed between the two of them. But the smile he gave Ace was the same crooked smile Ace was used to and it calmed him down.

"It's difficult to say bud. I know this is a bit confusing for you. But someone figured out your dad's secret."

"They know you're a wolf?" Ace asked and Rodger nodded.

"Are they going to be mad at you?"

Rodger nodded, "Yes, they will. People don't like being lied too."

"Then why did you do it?" Rouge had always taught him lying was wrong.

"You might understand when you're older." Rodger told him, "But you're still a little too young. Sometimes it's better to ask for forgiveness then permission. Especially when it comes to racism. People don't know better so they think things that aren't true. Because of this you have to show them that at the end of the day you are a person just like them. It's called empathy Ace and one day it's going to save the world. Do you understand?"

He shook his head and Rodger smiled knowingly. "No, I suspect not."

"So are they going to forgive you?"

"We will see kiddo. I wish I had more time. Time to show them that I just want to help." He let out a cold laugh. "But I guess you have to work with what you got."

"What happens if they don't?" Ace asked as he looked at his mom.

Rodger put his forehead against Ace's. "Don't you worry Big Bad. I would never let anything happen to you two. I know you're scared right now but things will be better tomorrow you will see."

"Now get some sleep." Rouge told Ace as she laid him down between them.

Ace nodded as he closed his eyes, all too willing to rest his overcrowded head by listening as the rain began to pelt their tiny house. For all he knew the next time he woke up sunlight would be streaming through the window and they would have already forgotten this whole thing.

If only it was that easy.

 **XXX**

Ace was awoken hours later to bright headlights in front of the house. Rouge and Rodger were talking in hushed voices.

"Stay up here with Ace." He told her kissing her forehead.

"You need me," She reasoned. "I need to know you will stay calm and not let that temper of yours out."

He held up two fingers with the same dopey grin he liked to tease her with, "Scouts honor."

"Look after your mom Big Bad." He winked at Ace. "Both of you lock the door and don't come out until I say it's alright."

He turned to go but Rouge caught his wrist and kissed him like it was the first time.

He smiled at her. "How did I get such an amazing woman?"

"Stay calm." She reminded him one final time as he turned to leave. She locked the door behind him before rejoining Ace on the bed covering his ears so he didn't listen in.

And for a while there was nothing but muffled talking. Ace had just began to fall asleep again when the talking began to grow louder. He sat upright as it turned to screaming.

"Mom?" He asked as she stood pacing nervously. "It's alright," She told him. "Trust your father."

"Is it the man from today?" He asked and she nodded.

"He is your father's friend. His name is Dragon, they work together in…." She trailed off as a loud crash sounded from downstairs. It sounded like a window shattering.

Ace was up and running towards the door in a heartbeat but Rouge stopped him.

"Mom!" He cried as another one sounded. It sounded like they were fighting. He tried again for the lock only for her to stop him. The sounds continued for what felt like eons but in actuality only a few minutes. It wasn't until a monstrous growl shook the whole house did she decide things had gotten too out of control.

"Ace stay behind me," She said as she took his hand unlocking the door hurriedly.

They were on the first step of the stairs when a gunshot sounded and they froze. It felt like Ace's heart dropped to the floor. But it didn't stop there. It was followed by another and another. All of which seemed to reverberate off the walls, making them louder than they really were.

When the bangs stopped the house became silent again and Rouge was pale as a ghost. Her lower lip quivering as she pushed him further behind her as they made their way downstairs.

Clutching his mother's hand tighter he looked at the damage. The living room was a mess. Tables overturned and bullet holes in the walls. But by far the most horrific part was the blood. It was sprayed over their once white wall and stained into the fabric of the carpet. Dragon had deep gashes in his face and chest and he was panting deeply, gun still held firmly in his hand. But that was all forgotten the second they saw the dark shape lying in the middle of the floor.

Rouge dropped his hand with a scream and she ran over to the wolf. Ace watched stuck in place as she ran her fingers through the thick black fur as if searching for injuries.

"No no no, honey can you hear me? Rodger!" She said softly stroking his snout with her free hand.

Ace looked between Dragon and his father his eyes wide.

"Mom," his voice was course.

When she didn't answer he tried again louder. "Dads okay right?"

Rouge froze her right hand still buried in his fur. She refused to tear her gaze away from his still form.

"Dad," Ace said taking a step towards them.

Dragon's sharp eyes fixed on him as he did so. That was finally enough to get her attention.

"Stay there Ace!" She snapped her voice sharper then he had ever heard it before.

But Ace didn't listen. Ignoring the glass covering the floor he made his way over to Rodger dropping to his knees on his father's other side. Dragon didn't move to stop him, but his eyes tracked every movement. But the only thing Ace was paying attention to was his dad.

He shook him gently, "Daddy." Ace had never called his father that before. But it was the only thing he could think so say.

He could see the tears on his mother's cheeks, smell the blood staining his father's pelt. Hear the frantic beating of three hearts but none of them belonged to Rodger.

Ace felt numb as Rouge finally snapped out of it enough to pull him towards her, hugging him to her chest and away from the body.

"Why?" She whispered to Dragon.

He had no more answers for her then the corpse held for any of them.

To this day Ace never knew what went on in their conversation. How it turned from talking to fighting and then murder. He didn't know who started it but he did know it hadn't been one sided. If he had to guess neither men managed to keep their tempers. Rodgers blind wolf rage had slipped out and in turn brought something nasty out in Dragon.

"Reinforcements are on their way," Dragon finally told her. "I have to place you under arrest for aiding and abetting the king of Wolves.

None of those words reached Rouge as she continued to stare at the wolf.

"He was your friend," She whispered.

"He was a war criminal, he lied to all of us." Dragon told her finally lowering the gun but still not putting it away.

"It was the only way to get you guys to listen. All he's ever done was try to help the humans. He wanted peace."

"What he wanted isn't relevant. This is how the law works."

"Oh god," Rouge brought up a shaking hand to her mouth. "You killed him."

"He came at me," Dragon snarled.

Ace, in a state of shock stayed obediently in his mother's arms feeling her tears fall into his hair. He heard the sounds of cars outside, lots of them. He could smell humans, dozens of them. As the door opened once more he peaked out looking over Rouges shoulder. There stood about twenty men all with heavy machine guns looking rather lost in the space of their once cheery country kitchen.

"Sir?" One of the men asked.

"Rouge did you hear me? I am placing you under arrest for aiding a known criminal."

When she still said nothing Dragon sighed, "Bring her to the trucks. The little one as well."

Rouge snapped at that, picking Ace up so quickly his head spun.

"Don't you dare touch my child." She spat at them her arms tightening painfully around him.

Dragon held out his hand trying to calm her. "He is a wolf and on top of that he's _his_ son. You have to understand why we can't just let him go."

"His name is Ace," She snarled. "And you are the one who needs to understand". Her voice was thick with grief. "I would never let the man who just killed my husband anywhere near my baby. I will cooperate with whatever you decide. But he is a child. One who has seen far too much tonight. Ace goes free."

Dragon shook his head. "It's not our policy to let wolves roam free. Especially not the son of the most notorious wolf this town has ever seen. You have my word that if he behaves we will not harm him."

But they weren't listening. When one of the men approached intending to snatch Ace away Rouge screamed and lunged at him.

Ace watched in shock as the man punched her across the face knocking her backwards.

And then he snapped, breaking free of his mother's hold he flung himself at the man who dared to hurt her. He went for the face, feeling the blood on his claws a second before the screams of the man. He fell backwards shocked but Ace didn't stop there. Just like in hunting he went for the throat. Like Rodger taught him.

The man was mumbling senselessly beneath him. But he was too far gone to care anymore. He had transformed without even realizing it. There was a loud bang and Rouge screamed.

Ace whirled to her as his senses returning. Had they shot his mother? No, her horrified gaze was fixed on him. He felt wetness trickle into his fur as the pain finally caught up to him. Ace fell back with a yelp.

"Stop!" Dragon commanded and it was only then that Ace realized everyone's guns were trained on him.

Ace froze, looking to his mother unsure of what to do.

"Don't you dare?" She breathed between clenched teeth. "You are supposed to protect people not hurt them. What kind of hunters are you."

"It wasn't supposed to be like this." Dragon told her, regret heavy in his voice.

"You killed my husband. His father. And now you threaten my child. You are not in the right here and you are no hero. Lower the god damn guns and we will come with you."

Dragon nodded to the men and they reluctantly took the guns off Ace. He looked over as he Mom crouched besides him.

"Baby listen carefully." She whispered in his ear as she stroked his fur. "I need you to run as fast as you can on my signal. I will be right behind you but you can't look back. Do you understand?" He looked up at her his eyes a liquid grey.

"Enough whispering." Dragon said.

When one of the hunters reached for her Rouge whirled around and pulled her fist strait into his nose.

"Ace go," She screamed as Ace sprung into action. Knocking down two unprepared hunters as he made a dash for the door.

He heard the crash from inside and felt a bullet graze him as he charged through the door. It was still pouring outside making it hard to see much except for the split second where lighting flashed and the world was lit up and then plunged into darkness once more.

Ace tore across the grass as fast as his limbs would carry him. He felt something slam into his hind leg with enough force to knock him down but he couldn't afford to stop. They were shooting at him. They were trying to kill him. They had killed his father. He had just left Rouge with them. He howled in despair as he flew through the meadow.

Ace glanced behind him to see that three of the four trucks were hot on his trail. Rouge said she would protect him. That they would protect him. He didn't feel protected. He felt like he was about to die. This day had started off so normal. What had happened?

He could see the headlights, blurred by the rain all trained on him. A third bullet hit him in the haunches making him stumble to the ground. But the next second he pulled himself up and kept running.

They were gaining on him but it didn't matter because even through the rain he could see the dark outline of the woods in front of him. With a last desperate sprint he tore into the tree line fully aware that the cars couldn't follow him in here. They would be forced to pursuit him on foot. And there was no question who was faster. The only problem was that Ace couldn't go far. He had a location in mind and it was near the border. Changing directions Ace ran across the tree line careful to stay deep enough and out of sight. He continued forwards even though it felt as if the wounds in his legs were tearing apart from the inside. He didn't stop until he hit a massive oak tree. Only then did he take a breath.

He wasn't sure he had lost them but Ace refused to head further into the woods. If he did his mom would never find him. A small part of his brain told him that she had lied, she was never going to meet up with him. They had her, the hunters had her. If Ace wanted to survive he needed to move. At any second they could find him. But the thought of going on without his mom hurt more than the three bullets in his legs. So instead he collapsed down on the forest floor, his head on his paws, and waited.

He could hear the hunters shouting to each other as they grew gradually closer. But he couldn't afford to move. This was the spot he knew she would find him at. After all it was where Rouge and Rodger had met. Pain shot through his heart like ice at the thought of his dad.

Every time Rodger would take him into the woods he would show him this spot, under the elder oak tree and tell him the story of the foolish woman who wondered too far from her village in an act of defiance and stumbled across an injured man. Instead of leaving him there she tended to his wounds and stayed with him through the night. It was only much later did she learn he was no man at all and rather a wolf. But by then it was far too late.

She was already in love with him.

Rouge would come for him. Ace decided. He would wait for her to find him. And if she didn't come and the hunters found him instead so be it. Ace didn't think anything they did to him could be more painful then never seeing his mother again. So he waited as the hunters drew nearer and nearer until he could see them moving a few meters up. But it was dark and the rain was showing no signs of stopping so they did not see him huddled up against the oak tree. Slowly bleeding to death. He heard them give up but instead of joy he felt numb.

The water soaked his fur and the rain mixed with his blood leaving a puddle of pale red around him. No longer able to lift his head up Ace closed his eyes glad for any kind of relief from the pain as he slipped away.

 **XXX**

He woke up hours later to the feeling of being carried. Ace sluggishly opened his eyes trying to get his blurry vision to focus. A familiar scent hit his nostrils and he began to yelp.

"Shush my baby." Rouge told him as she gently pet his fur, stumbling as she did so. Ace leaned up as far as his injuries would allow to lick her face making her smile delicately.

"You came back."

"Of course I did Big Bad. I would never leave my little wolf child alone."

Ace felt some pain in his chest release as he snuggled into her. She was warm and dry… at least dryer then him. But she smelt like blood. A mix of his, others that he couldn't place and her own as well.

"There's a cave here," She told him. "I took your father there when we first met. We can get you out of the rain."

Ace was only half listening. He hardly cared anymore as long as he was safe back with the only person he had left.

True to her words there was a small cave a few miles up. There wasn't much space and it was freezing but at least it was dry. Rouge put the little wolf down as he looked up at her.

"What did those hunters do to my beautiful baby boy?" She mused more to herself as she ran her hands through his fur looking for injuries. Ace whined as her probing fingers found the bullet wounds. She shushed him.

"I need you to be brave for me Ace. Can you do that?" He nodded as she pulled one of the kitchen knives from her waist band. He didn't even realize she had it.

She saw his surprised and gave him a sad smile. "For hunters they aren't very smart are they?" She asked as he shook his head. "They even didn't know that you never mess with a mom and her cub."

Rouge took off her wool socks and tore them up into make shift bandages. Ace had been shot three times. Two of those bullets had gone straight through his leg. But the third was stuck against a bone. Putting one hand on his snout to keep him still she dug it out carefully. Stopping every time Ace cried. He tried to be brave. He really did but it hurt.

Just as black dots began to cloud his vision Rouge shook him to keep him awake as she bandaged his wounds. He sniffed as she continued to pet his head telling him that he did a good job.

"Will you do one thing for your mother Ace?"

He nodded fighting the sleepiness that still plagued him.

She shook off her coat smiling at him. "Will you change back so your mom can see her beautiful baby?"

Ace hesitated. He didn't want to move let alone transform. It would hurt so much. But one look at his moms face and he knew it would be worth it. With a half howl half scream he shifted back into a very scared and injured little kid. She wrapped her coat around him and pulled him into her arms as she leaned against the cave wall.

They were silent for a while. Each wrapped up in their own thoughts.

"Mom?" Ace finally asked breaking the silence.

"Yes?"

"What are we going to do?"

Even in the darkness he could see tears on her cheeks. "Don't worry about that right now." She told him hugging him closer to her chest. "One day it's all going to be okay Ace. I know it doesn't feel like that right now but you have to believe things are going to be okay again someday."

He snuggled deeper into her arms listening to the rain and thunder outside.

"I'm sorry me and your dad couldn't protect you properly."

Ace nodded softly, accepting the apology. "Just don't leave me again." He told her.

He felt her chest shutter as she tried to hold back a sob. "I'm not going anywhere Big Bad. I am going to stay right here. But I need you to do one last thing for me alright."

"Anything mom," He told her laying his head on her shoulder.

"You've been so brave Ace but I need you to keep being brave for a little bit longer. I wish I didn't have to ask this of you. I know it's too much. But I know you can handle it. After all you are our son."

Ace nodded again feeling his eyes begin to droop . She shifted her hold on him to stroke his hair.

"Don't you dare let anyone tell you what you are, because they aren't your mother and I know exactly what you are. You are the strongest and kindest kid I have ever met and nobody can take that away from you."

"Why are you telling me this?" Ace asked softly.

"Because I need to hear you say that you will keep fighting no matter what."

Ace blinked up at her. "Will you stay with me always?"

"Honey I will always be with you." She promised kissing his forehead clumsily.

Ace smiled at that. "If you're with me then I can always be brave."

"That's my boy." Rouge told him, "Me and your dad love you more then you could possibly know."

"I love you too mom." Ace said as he closed his eyes. Feeling sleep overtake his mind as he drifted off in his mother's arms.

He felt her rocking him gently like she used to do when he was a baby. One hand stroked his hair while the other hugged him to her. The last thing he remembered was her humming the tune of Let it Be. Her favorite song. Before unconsciousness took him and he knew no more.

When he awoke hours later the rain had finally stopped. The sun hadn't risen yet but he could tell from the way the light had begun to seep into the cave that the storm had finally broken.

Ace was still cradled against Rouges chest. Her soft hand buried in his hair. But her body was cold.

The dim light of mourning showed the truth he hadn't realized last night. Just like him she had been shot, four times at least. He could now see the bloodstains on her clothes that were finally beginning to dry.

Ace slid her jacket off his shoulders and wrapped it around her. He didn't want her to be cold anymore. He left her lying alone in the cave as he went back to the oak tree.

Using nothing but his bare fingernails Ace dug her grave. Not stopping even when they splintered and bled. It was here that he buried her. Under the tree that had brought his parents together. Where she had first met the love of her life. The very same life that she would lose for loving a man like Rodger. When he was done Ace covered the grave with wildflowers.

And as the sun began to rise over the tree tops he finally turned away. It was a new day and there was nothing here for him anymore. He would not visit this place again and he would not look back.

As he went Ace shifted back into his wolf form, his fur already matted with blood and twigs. He didn't want to be human anymore. He would stay as a wolf for a very long time. Forever if need be.

 **.**

 **XXX**

 **So there you have it. Part of the reason that Ace is like he is. But his life doesn't get any easier after this. Things just go downhill further. I hope at least somebody thinks this was sad because I balled my eyes out writing it. It got so bad I couldn't even see the computer screen. So he is not quite four here and he meets Sabo sometime when their five so he still has one and a half years of loneliness before anyone else comes into his life. Sabo's chapter will come out soon and not to spoil anything but his life sucks as well.**

 **Anyway tell me what you guys think because this chapter was really hard to write. Partly because it was so long and partly because it was so tragic. So tell me if it was sad for you guys too or if I am just a dork-muffin who is in desperate need of a day job.**

 **XXX**

 **The Eternal Empress: I'm glad evil Sabo had the desired effect. It gave me goosebumps to write as well. Doflamingo is going to take a chill pill for a sec so the hunters and Dragon can start messing things up for the boys more than they already have. I think Sabo is more broken up about it then Luffy who understands Sabo would never hurt him on purpose. I think when we get more into Luffy's backstory it will become clear why he will never willingly go back to Dragon. But Dragon has had it out for Ace for a while. Hopefully you liked this chapter as well. Thank you for the review**

 **Rin27: You might not feel the same way after this chapter. But to his credit I don't think Dragon is evil. At least he has been trying to do the right thing. Poor Luffy indeed. As bad as this was for Ace Luffy is going to have a much harder time losing his mom because of how close to her he was. Thank you for the review** **I hope I did Ace's backstory justice.**

 **lostdog200: More on Bluejam later. We have not seen the last of that little fruit cake. He is not done tormenting Luffy. To answer your question Dragon had zero dad sense. Which is why he just forgot about his three year old and went to work. Hopefully this chapter makes it a little clearer but Rodger doesn't live in the village he lives on the outskirts with his family. He is going undercover in the human village to try and unite wolves and humans together using his power as the wolf leader and whatever connections he made in the village. I think that after four years Dragon had enough to figure it out, he is quite smart. But seeing that their home was full of wolf hair and teeth marks gave him the last confirmation he needed. As always thank you for reviewing**

 **AnimeAngel2692: Unfortunately I'm not that good of a writer so the kid Bluejam was talking about was just some random dude, not connected to the story. It was just to explain his interest in Luffy in this chapter and his resentment towards him later. I'm glad Dragon is coming off as a sympathetic character like I was aiming for. But I don't know if you will still like him after this. Especially not later on. Thank you for the reviews**


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